Suzette Charles Criticizes Miss America 42 Years After Inheriting Crown from Vanessa Williams Due to Nude Photo Scandal

Zoey LyttleFri, May 15, 2026 at 8:51 PM UTC

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Vanessa Williams and Suzette Charles after the Miss America 1984 pageant.
Credit: AP Photo -

Suzette Charles was crowned Miss America 1984 about 10 months after she placed as the runner-up at the pageant, coming in just behind winner Vanessa Williams

After Williams was forced to resign following a nude photo scandal, Charles inherited the crown, becoming the second Black woman to be named Miss America (also after Williams, who became the first Black winner)

In an interview with The Guardian over 40 years later, Charles condemned the organization's response to Williams' scandal and criticized the pageant system more broadly

Suzette Charles is looking at pageantry with a more critical eye, over 40 years after she held the coveted title of Miss America.

The singer and actress, 63, placed as the runner-up at Miss America in 1984, finishing just behind Vanessa Williams, who made history as the first Black woman to wear the sash. Williams, now 63, was forced to resign after her nude photos — which she had taken years prior and under the promise of anonymity — were sold and published in Penthouse magazine without her consent. Charles then inherited the crown, making her the second Black woman to be named Miss America.

Decades later, the former contestant looked back on her journey to the national stage in an interview with The Guardian. It started after she won Miss New Jersey at the state level. She remembered feeling "shocked" that she lost: "I thought my performance was stellar," Charles told the outlet.

Suzette Charles wearing the Miss America 1984 crown.
Credit: Getty

Speaking to The Guardian for the profile published on Friday, May 15, Charles criticized Miss America officials for their response to the scandal, knocking the pageant organization for punishing Williams "so many months later."

Charles described her crowning as "a bittersweet acceptance," and she expressed disapproval with the storied contest more broadly.

“The initial plan was to empower women, but we're in a different phase," she said in the interview. "I think it's probably time to say goodbye.”

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Williams spoke to PEOPLE about her fall from Miss America glory in 2024, about eight years after she returned to the pageant to serve as the head judge for the Miss America 2016 pageant.

“There was a tremendous amount of onus, pressure, shame, judgment,” Williams said, thinking back on the scandal that dominated the world's news cycle for weeks. “I took all that on as a 21-year-old. It was global. You can fail quietly, but that was a worldwide fail.”

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To mark her appearance on the judging panel, then-CEO of Miss America Sam Haskell issued a public apology to Williams.

“I have been a close friend to this beautiful and talented lady for 32 years,” he said. “You have lived your life in grace and dignity and never was it more evident than during the events of 1984 when you resigned.

Haskell continued, “Though none of us currently in the organization were involved then on behalf of today's organization I want to apologize to you and to your mother Ms. Helen Williams. I want to apologize for anything that was said or done that made you feel any less the Miss America you are and the Miss America you always will be.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”