Serena Williams claimed that she and her family were denied access to The Peninsula Hotel’s rooftop restaurant in Paris.
“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to [the] rooftop to eat in [an] empty restaurant of nicer places 🫠 but never with my kids,” the retired tennis player, 42, wrote via X on Monday, August 5. “Always a first. 🙄#Olympic2024.”
Following Williams’ tweet, The Peninsula issued a response to Us Weekly apologizing for the incident.
“In response to Mrs. Williams’ tweet, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all our esteemed guests, we can only reiterate our deepest apologies for her perception of tonight’s situation,” the statement read. “Today, August 5th, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked, and the only unoccupied tables at that time belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was also fully reserved tonight.”
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The message continued: “She has always been, and will always be, more than welcome with her family at The Peninsula.”
Williams is currently in Paris for the 2024 Olympics alongside her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their two daughters Olympia, 6, and Adira, 10 months. Williams participated in the torch relay for the games’ Opening Ceremony. The tennis legend was one of the final torchbearers and arrived at the Olympic cauldron alongside Rafael Nadal, Carl Lewis and Nadia Comăneci.
While at the ceremony, Ohanian, 41, was mistaken by broadcasters and identified as the man holding Williams’ umbrella.
“She [Serena] looks absolutely incredible. She’s got someone just behind us holding an umbrella,” commentator Laura Woods said during the Eurosport broadcast. “Those are the levels you aspire to. To have an actual umbrella holder behind you.”
After the commentator’s remarks went viral, the Reddit cofounder took to social media to bask in his new title.
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“Olympia. Serena. Serena’s Personal Umbrella Holder. 😂,” Ohanian joked via Instagram in July sharing a pic of himself with Williams and Olympia in Paris. “Let the games begin! I’ll be watching a lot of T&F [track and field events] to soak up @athlos inspiration. 🥇”
Williams is no stranger to the Olympics. She is a four-time Olympian, competing in 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016. At each event, Serena took home a gold medal for women’s doubles with sister Venus Williams. However, Serena gushed that she was excited to watch other athletes compete this time around following her retirement in 2022.
“It’s fun! I mean, the Olympics in Paris is really, really incredible,” Serena said to NBC reporters ahead of the opening ceremony. “I don’t know if it’s fun or I’m a little jealous. I did do the London/Wimbledon combination, but I was a little jealous of here!”
