40 years ago today, Williams was stripped of her Miss America crown.
Here’s how she got the last laugh.
Miss America today is an outdated and largely ignored relic, but it used to be areallybig deal.
Vanessa Williams in 1984 and 2024.Credit:Bettmann Archive; Dia Dipasupil/Getty
The first Black contestant, Miss Iowa Cheryl Brown, competed in 1970.
Vanessa Wiliams was an overachiever from an early age.
This was the summer of 1982, after her freshman year at Syracuse, when she was 19.
Vanessa Williams in ‘Ugly Betty’ with costar Michael Urie.Vivian Zink/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
And at 19, you think you rule the world, and you’re free to control things.
And a lot of times, you don’t.
Having never competed in a beauty pageant before, Williams was hesitant to enter the Miss Greater Syracuse pageant.
Vanessa Willams was crowned Miss America in 1984.Bettmann Archive
But she decided to try it anyway and, being Vanessa Williams, won it handily.
She went on to win Miss New York, which sent her to Miss America.
But then there were also the death threats.
Vanessa Williams performs as musical guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1992.Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
So being Miss America was a really big deal, but being the first Black Miss America wasenormous.
Once the Miss America Organization learned of this, they gave Williams 72 hours to resign.
Having that perception of me was when I realized what an obstacle Id have.
Vanessa Williams at the 95th annual Miss America Pageant in 2016.Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
And so she chose vengeance.
The plaintive ballad spent five weeks at No.
1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Song and Record of the Year.
Williams just kept on working, putting the memory of the Miss America shame behind her.
Miss America is but a footnote in her career.
In a sense, she is the ultimate Miss America.
