crm@rti.UUCP (07/25/84)
I agree with you mostly -- Vanessa should have sued their assetts off. However, my understanding what is contained in the photographs is that they demonstrate fairly conclusively that she hasn't got any balls whatsoever... which would have REALLY hung the Miss America pageant board up! And what the hell -- her FACE is the prettiest part anyway. charlie martin ...mcnc!rti-sel!crm
terryl@tekchips.UUCP (Terry Laskodi) (07/25/84)
I think she should sue `em, but what's even funnier is Bob Guccione's (the editor of Penthouse) rationalization of printing the pictures now. He too made some lame excuse about her 'signing a standard modeling release form'. If so, why did they wait so long to publish the pictures????
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (07/26/84)
< They pelted us with rocks and garbage! > | I hope she comes out of this well...she's certainly got more balls | than those idiots on the Miss America pageant board. Judging by the subject matter of the photographs, that's certainly likely (OUCH! Don't hit me!) | Actually, one of the most delightful things is watching Mr. & Mrs. | Upstanding American as they realize that their annual ceremonial | prettiest virgin is not quite as lily-white as they'd like to | believe. It's kind of interesting watching the naivete' disappear... | -- | Rsk the Wombat Of course she's not lily-white! She could pass, but she's not lily white! Sorry, but I couldn't resist. Actually, I'd really like to see Giaccano take it on the head for this. The photos were taken when she was 18 years old, and she's 24 now. That's several years back. If they had intended to publish them then they should have done so long ago. Also they used the title, I suspect without the permission of the pageant board. Since the title is property I suspect the pageant board will be able to sue the pants off G. I personally think that Guccione should be required to strip and pose in a series of degrading and improbable sexual acts with several porcupines, and then required to publish the photos. He should also be required to remain totally unclothed until the end of the term of the next Miss America. Hutch
grw@fortune.UUCP (Glenn Wichman) (07/26/84)
bip.
Well, here we have a human interest story where just about everybody
screwed up. If you don't mind my waxing judgemental for a moment,
here I go:
Vanessa Williams: Probably a mistake 2 1/2 years ago to have posed
for those shots. Not that I have anything against people posing nude,
but clearly it was not for her. Instead of avoiding the problem, she
should have contacted the guy who took the pictures and made sure she
had the negatives & rights to them. Overall, she comes out the best
of the lot.
Hugh Hefner: Well, Hugh showed some class by refusing to print the
pictures in Playboy, but if he really wanted to be charitable to
Vanessa, he should at least have warned her that there was someone
out hawking nude photos of her. If he really wanted to be nice, he
could have bought the rights to the pictures and then just sat on
them. He could afford to take the loss. He certainly could have
figured that if he didn't buy them they'd only be sold to a sleazier
publication.
The Miss America Pageant: These guys really burn me up. They
acted in an unsensitive and unforgiving manner, and were considerably
more judgemental even than I am being now. To make the announcement
to the press & to Vanessa's lawyer, but not tell Vanessa herself,
is totally lacking in class. Furthermore, they had told Vanessa that
nothing would happen to her, and not to worry, then two days later
pulled the plug. They certainly didn't come off as people making
a stand for morality.
The Photographer: (I forget his name). Well, this guy's a sleaze,
and furthermore, he's a sleaze-in-hiding. This is the guy who talked
her into doing the photos in the first place, and apparently promised
they'd never be published. He probably got himself a tidy sum from
Penthouse, and Vanessa didn't even get a modeling fee. I'm sure
he knew what this would do to her carreer. The only thing I can say
in his favor (and it's not much) is that he waited until Vanessa
was almost done being Miss America.
Bob Guccione: My award for second-biggest sleaze. He took advantage
of this opportunity to the hilt, and he's making a BUNDLE, and still
manages to claim that it was his "duty to his readers" to print those
pictures. Well, I didn't expect any better from him at least.
The buying public: The award for all-around-biggest-sleaze is a
two million way tie for all of the people who went out and bought
this month's Penthouse just to get in on the sensationalism and
to make Bob Guccione richer. Absolutely no class.
-Glennags@pucc-i (Seaman) (07/26/84)
> I think she should sue `em, but what's even funnier is Bob Guccione's > (the editor of Penthouse) rationalization of printing the pictures now. He > too made some lame excuse about her 'signing a standard modeling release form'. > If so, why did they wait so long to publish the pictures???? Because they didn't know the pictures existed. She did NOT "pose for Penthouse" as everyone in this group seems to think. She posed for a free-lance photographer, with the "understanding" (probably verbal) that the pictures would not be released (or if they were, she would not be recognizable). The pictures were first offered to Playboy, which turned them down because the release was of questionable legality, and because they did not want to be "the magazine that made Miss Williams give up her crown." -- Dave Seaman My hovercraft is no longer full of ..!pur-ee!pucc-i:ags eels (thanks to my confused cat).
debray@sbcs.UUCP (Saumya Debray) (08/01/84)
tekchips!terryl: > [Guccione] too made some lame excuse about [Vanessa Williams] > 'signing a standard modeling release form'. If so, why did they > wait so long to publish the pictures???? I really don't see why we're getting so self-righteous here! Guccione's in the business of making money marketing a girlie mag, and that's what he's unabashedly doing, and making no excuses about it ... if people weren't too disturbed by the magazine these last fifteen years, it seems a little silly to get all hot and bothered now! Since Williams did, in fact, (a) pose for the pictures voluntarily, and (b) sign a release form, nothing illegal seems to have been done (if we're talking ethics, that's a different matter, but since when has corporate America been overly preoccupied with ethics anyway?!). (BTW, shouldn't that title really read "ex-Miss-America"?) -- Saumya Debray, SUNY at Stony Brook uucp: {cbosgd, decvax, ihnp4, mcvax, cmcl2}!philabs \ {amd70, akgua, decwrl, utzoo}!allegra > !sbcs!debray {teklabs, hp-pcd, metheus}!ogcvax / CSNet: debray%suny-sbcs@CSNet-Relay