Vanessa Williams
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
I had death threats as soon as I won.
People wanting to kill you.
Yeah, yeah.
My parents had a box and they would put all the death threats.
The FBI had all of the tracking and I had no idea how crazy it was because they didn't want me to freak out.
And people would call and harass them like, we're going to kill your daughter.
You know, we know where you are.
We're going to come after you from the onset.
I was a person of color that had never been a Black Miss America before.
People said, oh, she's got to be from the ghetto.
I mean, there were so many judgments.
So instead of like, oh, I don't want to do this anymore.
Let me cry and let me give up.
You have to say, guess what?
I'm going to prove to you who I am.
Hi, I'm Vanessa Williams, and I'm in great company.
Thank you.
Some photos of me were leaked to a magazine.
But anyway, I resigned toward the end of my reign.
To start my career with that heavy baggage was a massive burden.