Sharing on X on August 5, Serena posted a photo of the sea of the 5-star Peninsula Hotel, hashtagged Olympic 2024 and captioned: “Shocking. I was turned away from an empty restaurant on the rooftop of an elegant place, this has never happened to my children. Are you really rejecting me?”.

After the former American tennis player posted the message, many fans criticized the hotel for racism. “You should report the discrimination and get someone fired,” one person wrote. Another commented: “It doesn’t matter how much money you have, racism doesn’t care.” Some other comments expressed: “Serena Williams was also rejected?” or “I’m glad you didn’t waste your money here.”

Not everyone was on Serena’s side, however, with some accusing her of celebrity behaviour. “I’m a celebrity, kick a normal person out so I can eat,” one social media account wrote, mocking the tennis legend.

Hours after Serena’s attention-grabbing post, the Peninsula responded, explaining that they were indeed fully booked despite appearing empty. “Dear Ms. Williams, please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you experienced tonight. Unfortunately our rooftop bar is fully booked and the empty tables you saw belong to our gastronomic restaurant L’Oiseau Blanc and are also fully booked. We will always be happy to welcome you back.”

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, her husband, businessman Alexis Ohanian, and their two daughters are in Paris to watch the Summer Olympics. Serena took part in the torch relay at the opening ceremony on July 26. On August 4, she attended the men’s singles final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, which Nole (Djokovic’s nickname) won.

Serena Williams has also won four Olympic gold medals. The female tennis player considered the greatest of all time won the women’s doubles title with her sister Venus at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At London 2012, Serena won the doubles and singles tennis titles. After 27 years of professional competition with great success, the former world number one announced her retirement in 2022.