S26E22: Vanessa Williams (A Trashy Divorces Encore Plus!)

Trashy Divorces

Hemlock Creatives

Comedy, History

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s funny to think that back in the 1980s, a leak of nude pictures could cause a headline-grabbing scandal, but that’s exactly what happened to the first Black woman to ever wear the Miss America crown. Vanessa Williams, then 21, was roundly demonized in the press, and was subjected to intense public outrage for her supposed transgression. She was even forced to resign her crown, an overreaction that the pageant would apologize for decades later. Alicia has the whole sorry saga, and the powerful comeback story of one of the great talents in American entertainment – plus a couple of divorces! Want early, ad-free episodes, regular Dumpster Dives, bonus divorces, limited series, Zoom hangouts, and more? Join us at patreon.com/trashydivorces! Want a personalized message for someone in your life? Check us out on Cameo! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Trash Pandas. I'm Alicia. I'm Stacey. Friends, we are so excited this weekend for the encore Trashy Divorces episode to bring to you one of our favorites.
0:10.5	We're going to walk down that runway one more time with the lovely, the talented, the ethereal, Vanessa Williams.
0:18.5	The inappropriately smeared. Inappropriately smeared. The comeback story that
0:24.4	everybody wants to hear. She is so amazing. We couldn't end February on a better note than by
0:30.8	celebrating Willamina Slater herself. Actually, sadly, Vanessa's mama has passed away recently, sending her all the love.
0:39.5	She's also experiencing some West End success over in London, appearing as Miranda Priestley,
0:46.5	in a musical adaptation of the Double Wears Prada.
0:50.5	Super fun, super fun. There's some updates on Vanessa. We are presenting this without any
0:56.3	further ado all the way back from season 16, December 2020. You go take your crown again,
1:04.8	Vanessa Williams, on the Trashy Divorces Runway. Hey, everybody, welcome to Trashy Diverses.
1:12.5	Your favorite good podcast about bad relationships.
1:15.7	My name is Stacey.
1:16.7	Hey, friends, I'm Alicia.
1:18.1	Welcome back or welcome for the first time.
1:21.0	I'm really excited about today's show, Stacey.
1:23.4	Who do you have for us?
1:25.1	I am bringing all of our trash pandas, saving the best for last, the beautiful, the lovely,
1:30.5	the talented, the acclaimed Vanessa Williams.
1:34.5	Who powered through it?
1:36.5	Incredible story.
1:38.9	Two divorces, as well as the whole Miss America.
1:42.6	Fiasco and apology included.
	...

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