Serena Williams and her children were allegedly denied access to a restaurant in Paris during the Olympics. The 42-year-old retired tennis star, who was a torchbearer at the Paris Olympics, said she couldn’t get into the Peninsula Paris to eat.
The famous luxury hotel which used to be known as Hotel Majestic denied her entry to eat at one of its restaurants.
She posted about the incident on X saying that the rooftop restaurant was actually empty at the time. “Always a first,” she had said. Williams had gone there with her two daughters Adira River and Alexis Olympia Jr. It’s not clear whether her husband Alexis Ohanian was there or not.
Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places 🫠 but never with my kids. Always a first. 🙄#Olympic2024 pic.twitter.com/lEGJR5WoEn
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 5, 2024
Social media users rallied around Williams to support her.
The hotel and restaurant did eventually get back to her with an apology saying,
“Dear Mrs Williams, please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight. Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved. We have always been honoured to welcome you and will always be pleased to welcome you again.”
One employee from the restaurant told Variety magazine that she was unrecognizable when she arrived at the restaurant accompanied by another woman and a stroller.
The employee named Mannaevy, said, “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.”
The Peninsula Paris also issued a statement in TODAY magazine stating that in response to Williams’ tweet, they would like to reiterate their deepest apologies for her perception of the situation. The hotel also expressed its admiration and respect for her.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner arrived in Paris just before the opening ceremony as she was one of the torchbearers. She then went on to attend several different events including gymnastics and the tennis match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Spain’s Carlos Alcatraz.
Williams has won a total of four Olympic gold medals for Team USA in the past.