Miss America today was given 72 hours to surrender her crown
because of a series of nude photographs scheduled to appear
in "Penthouse" magazine.
It's never happened before.
A reigning Miss America asked to relinquish her crown.
Is it a moral issue or an issue of changing morality?
The question everyone has been pondering, including myself,
is whether I should try to retain my title as Miss America
in spite of the circumstances.
I wish I could retain my title as Miss America,
however, the potential harm to the pageant
and the deep division that a bitter fight may cause
has convinced me that I must relinquish
my title as Miss America.
Don't do it.
When I resigned as Miss America with a month to go,
it was mixed.
I did not get support across the board.
That was heartbreaking.
I felt that she had the opportunity
to do something really good for Black people,
and she let them down.
Society was ready to, like, condemn
her like Mary Magdalene.
When the scandal erupted and these photos came out,
it just seemed like, can we have anything?
I never consented to the publication
or the use of these photographs in any manner.
At this age, I would say how cynical and normal
it is for photos to leak.
In fact, those pictures would be art now, OK?
When it was disclosed that these pictures were coming out,
it was the same time that Vanessa
Williams was going to be on the cover
of "Essence's" September issue.
Susan called me 8:00 in the morning to let me know.
But it was too late to do anything, but run with it.
REPORTER: While the photos may have ended her reign,
they have not hurt sales of the magazine.
They were booming.
I remember thinking, man, this is great publicity.
This magazine is going to sell.
And it did.
It sold on the newsstands, but we lost subscriptions.
The readers thought that "Essence" was
condoning these nude photos.
We were being asked by corporations
to remove the cover.
We said, well, we're not going to do that.
It took us a year to rebound.
To feel the support from the whole staff
of the "Essence" family and magazine,
they saw me for my achievements and who I really was.
"Essence" supported that sister, and that's what we do.
We surround one another.
REPORTER: Outside the press conference,
Black models demonstrated in support of Vanessa Williams.
Long live the queen.
We all felt the pain.
I wrote an editorial about it for Vanessa.
I just said, you know, this is political because the person
who exploited her, I don't even know his name.
None of us do.
But she certainly was taken to task.
20 years old, you're still a baby.
You're still figuring out who you are.
You're still figuring out what you stand for.
And you're still learning how to live.
Vanessa is an icon that we look up to even more today.
I don't know if that little pageant that stripped her
away still has the same cloud.
I'm just saying.
I look back at my 20-year-old self and just want
to give myself a big hug to be able
to get through being famous.
America's relationship with the Black woman
has always been one where America thinks they own her.
You don't change history without retaliation.
I felt like she was sacrificed on all of our behalf
for what she had done to help us all win.
But what it didn't change was the fact
that there's never going to be a day again where there has
not been a Black Miss America.
And that changes the game for where the floor now is.
"Essence" was a part of celebrating her.
And in true Black cultural tradition,
Vanessa didn't win Miss America.
We all did.
I definitely want to thank the Black community.