they had to earn the money themselves. Williams attended Horace Greely High School and was the school singing star. She also achieved a variety of honors, including being drama finalist in the Presidential Scholars program (Darrach, "She's Black and Miss America" 36-41).
In September 1984, Penthouse magazine, a soft-porn magazine edited by Bob Guccione, published a series of nude photographs of Vanessa Williams, posed with another nude woman. The magazine immediately became a best-seller and became the all-time single-issue seller for the company, making $24 million. Williams was immediately attacked by certain elements in the press, by blacks who saw her as reflecting on the race, and by pageant officials, who pressured her to resign. She did resign and lost at least $2 million worth of endorsement contracts. Guccione also announced that he had more photos and was going to publish them in a subsequent issue. Williams stated that she would sue (Darrach, "Vanessa Fights Back" 36-37).
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