Then 21 years old, Williams was forced to resign her post after Penthouse announced that it would publish nude photos she had posed two years ago while working as a photographer’s assistant. Vanessa Williams is the first black Miss America and the first to give up her crown. When she was crowned as Miss America in September 1983, she gained wide acclaim for being the first African-American winner of the title but on July 23, 1984, few weeks before the end of her reign, she handed over her crown.
