The Paris restaurant that Serena Williams called out earlier today has released a statement to @variety and claimed that the situation was “nothing personal.”
As we previously reported, Serena Williams shared her disappointment with a luxury hotel in Paris for not allowing her and her children access to the rooftop restaurant. After being denied access, Williams took to her X account to call out the restaurant. “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places … but never with my kids,” Williams wrote. “Always a first.”
According to a staff member at the Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, Maxime Mannevy, Williams arrived at the establishment with another woman and a stroller, appearing “unrecognizable.” In the statement provided to the news outlet Mannevy stated, “When she came there were only two tables available and they had been reserved by clients of the hotel. My colleague didn’t recognize her and feels terrible, but he told her what he would have told any other client, which is to wait downstairs in the bar for a table to become available. That was absolutely nothing personal.”
Williams arrived in Paris at the end of July, prior to the Olympic opening ceremony where she participated as a torchbearer. The retired tennis champion, who concluded her professional career after the 2022 U.S. Open, joined other athletes such as Carl Lewis, Zinedine Zidane, Teddy Riner, Marie-José Pérec, Tony Parker, and Rafael Nadal in carrying the torch. Remaining in Paris to witness the Olympics, she has been spotted at various tennis matches, including Novak Djokovic’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles tournament.
RELATED: Met Gala 2023: Serena Williams Announces She’s Expecting Baby No. 2 With Alexis Ohanian!
Throughout her career, Williams secured four Olympic gold medals. She clinched one in the women’s singles at the 2012 London Games, while the other three were attained in the women’s doubles, where Williams and her sister, Venus Williams, triumphed in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, and London 2012.
The most unbelievable response to Serena complaint I ever heard. This Paris senior manager of this restaurant LIED. Unrecognizable? really people? Try another statement that makes sense and maybe someone may believe it. This was a racist move. Serena called that degrading restaurant out for their bias actions. Now they want to say, Serena is unrecognizable? It does not matter how she looked Serena and her kids should have been offered the roof top dining area even if there was a wait. This restaurant judge her by her skin color and not her money or who she was. I don’t trust Paris citizens period. US need to be very careful entering foreign countries theses days. A lot of US citizens have left for vacations to these foreign countries & never return due to being poisoning or murdered.
This is the typical racism white supremacy that was created in Europe. this is not a surprise and if Serena Williams had been white the would have DEFINITELY let her ate there with immediate commendation.
What does it matter if I am a reconized professional tennis player or a regular patron looking to enjoy a meal with my family.
It tells me that if I am not welcomed for what I am (Black), then I am not welcomed for who I am ( Black,world class, professional tennis star)
I refuse to patronize a business that does not welcome me as a paying customer
I will certainly remember this Paris hotel/restaurant on my next trip to Paris.
U surprised! they just let u no ur still black no matter what, u turned your back on us stop crying deal with your kinds we don’t care!!