![]() "Non-publication of the photographs under these circumstances may very well be more damaging to me and my career than the injury which I will undoubtedly suffer from publication." have led the public to believe the photographs are more revealing and provocative than they actually are," The Post reported in 1987. I felt so relieved."Įventually, White dropped both lawsuits, claiming in a statement that "Playboy's promotion efforts. After the conversation, she wrote, "He then gave me a big hug, and as I left, he stood up and, crying, he said, 'It's only money.' He wiped away his tears and went downstairs. She wrote of a meeting in which Hefner allegedly promised not to run the photographs. In the book, White recounted an entirely different memory. She then sued Hugh Hefner in federal court.īruce Binkow, former director of communications for Playboy, countered that White had knowledge of the magazine's plans and had in fact requested the issue be postponed to coincide with the release of her autobiography, "Vanna Speaks." She claimed the photos would "tarnish her image as a modest, wholesome, attractive and innocent all-American girl," according to a 1987 Associated Press story. When the issue was announced, White filed a $5.2 million lawsuit against the magazine, hoping to halt the publication of her image. I did not want them on there, but it happened." "He's the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. "Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures," she told Fox. Later that year, Merv Griffin hired White to be the letter-turner on "Wheel of Fortune," where she ascended from a struggling actress to "one of the hottest celebrities in the country," as the Chicago Tribune wrote in 1987. ![]() So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, 'I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm not going to ask my dad for money, so I'm just going to do it!'" "I was young and I wanted to do it on my own. "When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money," White told Fox. The photographs were taken in 1982 by David Gurian, who wasn't associated with the magazine. Thus when her issue of Playboy hit newsstands in May 1987, reactions were swift.Īs one blogger, a reader of the magazine, wrote, White was the "one celebrity who appeared on Playboy that absolutely blew my mind, both then and now, because she's the last person I would ever expected on Playboy." She also inspired vitriol.Įarly that year, the Miami Herald published an almost 1,000-word commentary titled "How much Vanna can we Stanna?" that opened, "What if Barbie came to life, changed her name to Vanna White and found a job turning letters on the most successful game show in television history?" And that was one of the column's lighter insults. She "gained first-name-only recognition in 1987," reported The Washington Post. To understand the cultural impact of her Playboy spread, one must first realize how ubiquitous White's image was at the time. Of course she didn't lose her job, but the photos caused quite an uproar - and a few legal battles, too. I made a mistake, I'm sorry and I just hope I don't lose my job over it.'" She remembered "going on 'Johnny Carson' and saying, 'I'm so sorry. "I did something I shouldn't have done," she told Fox. ![]() On Wednesday, about a month after White turned 60, she discussed the moment with Fox News. Inside was a spread showing a seminude White in various suggestive poses. Since she first stepped onto the set of "Wheel of Fortune" in 1982, young and clad in a purple gown, Vanna White was an American institution.įive years into White's career, though, America gasped when the game show sweetheart, wearing only a long-sleeved shirt that exposed her bare behind, appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine. ![]()
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