"We're often offered unathorized photos of celebrities, taken by paparazzi or by various surreptitious means. "Apart from the questionable legality of it, the editors met in a regular editorial meeting with Hugh Hefner, hashed it out, and decided it would not really be in Playboy's best interest, and would definitely be detrimental to Miss America's best interest. ![]() photo release," said Playboy's David Salyers. "The first thing we reacted to was a very sketchy. "We are not interested in the possibility of harming her career," said Richard Nelson, speaking for the magazine. Playboy magazine spokesmen said editors refused to buy the pictures after they had been approached late last year. "They're rather like other photo layouts that appear in Penthouse. "They're nude and they're very revealing," Guccione said. Guccione would not reveal how much his magazine paid for the pictures, but said it was "a lot." In an appearance on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" yesterday, Penthouse publisher Robert Guccione said that he has a release form signed by Williams. Williams' spokesman Dennis Dowdell said Williams felt the "unauthorized use" of the photographs is "an invasion of her privacy." The nude pictures were taken by free-lance photographer Tom Chiapel when Williams worked for him as a makeup artist and receptionist before she entered the contest. She made no statement and was whisked away in a limousine. Williams dodged 150 reporters when she arrived at LaGuardia Airport in New York after an appearance in Little Rock, Ark. Major Owens (D - N.Y.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, during Williams' Washington visit last October. "For black people it'll mean something forever," said Rep. Alfonse D'Amato and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. ![]() Williams spoke to the National Press Club, met with President Reagan and was feted by legislators, including New York Sens. NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks compared her to Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball. When she won her title, Williams was lauded as a role model for black women. "It's very unfortunate that it has to come about this way," Charles said from her home in Mays Landing, N.J. Charles said she hadn't heard from the pageant, but if asked would assume the title. Directors have not said if the first runner-up, Suzette Charles of New Jersey, who also is black, would replace Williams for the last two months of her reign. Williams, 21, has been the most heavily booked winner in pageant history and has already earned a record $125,000 in fees. "For 10 months Vanessa Williams has served the pageant and the title of Miss America well," said the statement released by pageant directors, "but we must make it clear that we cannot and do not condone her actions either in posing for the photographs or in failing to reveal the facts at the appropriate time in the selection process that led to her being awarded the crown." ![]() The issue, with a 10-page picture spread of Williams and another woman, will be on newsstands in August. He held up the cover of the September issue of Penthouse, which shows Williams with comedian George Burns. ![]() "We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he told reporters during a press conference yesterday. Marks refused to say what would happen if Williams refused to resign. "She said she was sorry and she was tearful to the point of hysterics," he said. said he expected Williams, the first black Miss America, to hold a press conference on Monday to announce her decision, adding that he thought she would resign. Pageant chairman and executive director Albert A. "We will give her 72 hours to give that request consideration." "We have today asked Miss Williams to relinquish her crown and the title of Miss America 1984," a press statement said. The pageant's executive committee voted unanimously for Williams' resignation. She is the first Miss America to be asked to resign in the pageant's 63-year history. Vanessa Williams, the reigning Miss America, was asked to relinquish her title yesterday by the directors of the pageant after they learned that Penthouse will publish sexually explicit, nude photographs of Williams and another woman in its September issue.
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