'That Was a Worldwide Fail': Vanessa Williams Reflects on the 'Shame and Judgment' She Felt Following the Release of Her Nude Photos in 1984

A fall from grace?

In a new interview, Vanessa Williams — who is gearing up to play magazine mogul Miranda Priestly in London’s upcoming musical adaptation of the hit 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada —reflected on how she felt when nude photos of her were released in 1984.

Despite being promised anonymity, on July 13, 1984, Williams discovered the snapshots had been sold and would soon be published in Penthouse magazine.

“There was a tremendous amount of onus, pressure, shame, judgment,” she explained. “I took all that on as a 21-year-old. It was global. You can fail quietly, but that was a worldwide fail.”

At the time, Williams was stripped of her Miss America title following the leak of the images.

Four decades later, Williams, 61, has fully recovered from the incident and went on to have a tremendous career.

She shared how the photos were taken when she was still a teen while working as a receptionist for a photographer at a New York modeling agency in 1982. The infamous stills included Williams alongside another young women, who were told only their silhouettes would be visible.

“I look back at my 19-to 20-year-old self and think, ‘Oh my God you were so naive, so trusting, so vulnerable,’” the mother-of-four stated. “In your mind you think, ‘I’m old, I know what I’m doing.’ I give myself grace now, but as a young adult, I beat myself up, like ‘I should have known better.’”

The Desperate Housewives alum considered what happened to her through her kids’ perspective.

"They're all older than I was now, but the fact that I became famous at 20 years old relative to their lives and having death threats and having to go through breaking a huge hurdle and what the repercussions of that was," she shared.

"[They're like] 'Wow, how did you handle all this mom at 20?'" she added. "Then I look back at my 20-year-old self and say, 'My God, I was a baby.'"

Miss America has since apologized to Williams for asking for her resignation amid the scandal. Despite the harrowing experience, Williams is proud of all she's been able to do in her career.

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People interviewed Williams.