NEW YORK -- Vanessa Williams, who relinquished her Miss America crown when Penthouse magazine published sexually explicit photos of her, also had posed nude for another photographer, a Penthouse magazine spokesman said today.
Miss Williams said her decision to resign was precipitated by the fear that the second set of pictures would be made public and 'people wouldn't forgive me for a second mistake,' The New York Times reported.
Those pictures, taken by photographer Greg Whitman, were scheduled for publication in the January edition of Penthouse, said Sy Presten, a spokesman for the magazine's owner, Bob Guccione.
In addition, Presten said previously unreleased photographs of Miss Williams taken by Tom Chiapel, who photographed the first nude session, will be published in November.
Chiapel's first session had photographs of Miss Williams posing nude with another woman and were published in the September issue of the magazine. The pictures forced Miss Williams' resignation.
'Guccione says the pictures in January will be equally explicit but more shocking,' Presten said. He declined to comment where and when Whitman took the photos.
About the time of Miss Williams' resignation last month, Presten said Guccione received a telegram from Whitman offering more nude photographs of the former Miss America.
Miss Williams told the Times in a phone interview from Los Angeles that she had posed for Whitman and signed a model's release form. In the interview, she denied she had signed such a form for Chiapel.
'When I first heard that Penthouse was publishing nude photos of me, I assumed they were by Whitman,' she said in the interview. 'In my naivete, I had signed a release for Whitman. But I felt badly about the pictures, and a couple of days later I went back to him to get the negatives,' she said.
She said Whitman gave her an envelope containing the photos and assured her all the pictures were enclosed 'except for a few color slides, which he said he would only use for his portfolio.'
Presten said Guccione verified Miss Williams' signature on releases from both photographers.
But lawyers for Miss Williams said they were preparing to file a lawsuit against Guccione, his magazine and Chiapel, the New York Times said.
