French press reports that Valerie Begue, the recently elected Miss France 2008, has become embroiled in a scandal over indecent photos taken three years ago, when she was 19 years old.
The photographs published by Entrevue (Interview) magazine, show the bikini- wearing French beauty from Reunion Island, an overseas region of France, reclining semi-nude in a swimming pool in a pose reminiscent of Jesus on the cross. In another photo she licks a yogurt container. ‘This is absolutely untenable,’ the president of the Miss France committee, Genevieve de Fontenay, said. “She has to step down immediately or we will force her to leave.” The Miss France official stated that all contestants who want to become Miss France is required to provide a written statement that they will never have indecent pictures taken. She went on to say that even more strict measures will be taken for the next elections of Miss France.
Miss France 2008 Begue told the Saturday’s edition of the Parisien daily that she had been betrayed. The photos were unpublished test shots, for which she had never been paid, she said. “I was 19 years old, I acknowledge that I’ve made a mistake I bitterly regret,” she said. ‘We all make mistakes in life.” In her first reaction Begue said she would never voluntarily stand down, saying that she never gave permission for the photos to be published in France. But Genevieve de Fontanay has other ideas. After the first magazine story, more nude photos of Miss France, appeared in Choc (translation: Shock). The Miss France committee leader declared that Miss Begue did not have the dignity required to be Miss France and should relinquish her crown. But fans on the internet have mostly reacted in support of Begue, saying that de Fontanay should “get with the times.” And hundreds of fans on her home island of La Reunion welcomed the new Miss France ‘like a queen,’ according to the Quotidien de la Reunion daily newspaper.
However the mother of Miss France says that she has counseled her daughter to give up her crown, explaining that the press furor over the scandal has devastated her daughter.
But rather than despair, Miss France might like to look at the example of American beauty queen, Vanessa Williams. Williams made history in 1983 when she became the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America. Williams’ reign as Miss America came to an abrupt end when scandal—also involving nude photos taken early in her career– led to her subsequent resignation of the title. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, receiving Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award recognition.
