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Serena Williams Says She Was Denied Access to Peninsula Rooftop While Attending Paris Olympics
Tennis legend Serena Willams says she was refused entry to a Paris eatery and proceeded to call out The Peninsula Rooftop on X.
“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in an empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first,” Serena, 42, shared along with the hashtag “Olympic 2024” on Monday, August 5.
Serena shares two daughters – Olympia, 6, and Adira, 11 months – with husband Alexis Ohanian.
The Peninsula Paris responded to the athlete’s claim with a comment under her post.
“Dear Mrs. Williams, Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight,” the eatery began.
“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,” they explained about why she thought they were unable to accommodate her despite open tables.
Fans were stunned that the greatest female tennis player of all time was denied access to a restaurant with her family, despite claims they were booked.
“Who doesn’t make room for a queen?” one person asked, while another wrote, “Glad you didn’t have to waste money there.”
A fan joked that with Serena’s massive fortune, “You can buy the whole damn place,” while another told her she dodged a bullet, writing, “You’re better off not going, their food is subpar — I’ve unfortunately had to pay for it quite a few times.”
One person tried to console the star, writing, “Sorry that happened to you. They should have been honored to have you,” while another wondered, “How does THE Serena Williams get denied anywhere?? Especially during the Olympics???”
While Serena retired from competitive tennis in 2022, she won four gold medals during her illustrious career, taking home the hardware as the women’s singles champ at the 2012 London Olympics and winning doubles gold medals with sister Venus Williams at 2000 Sydney games, 2008 Beijing Olympics and London 2012.
The 23-time grand slam champion is such a beloved Olympic icon that she was chosen to help carry the torch on its final leg on a boat down the Seine River at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on July 26. She was joined by fellow tennis great Rafael Nadal, nine-time gold medalist track star Carl Lewis and gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci.
Serena later joked about the emotional yet rainy ride, writing on X, “From being part of an amazing Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics to riding in the boat in the rain-and it was pouring! So much so my lashes came right on off.”
The seven-time Wimbledon champ has been taking in plenty of events while in Paris. She was joined by Alexis and Olympia to watch Simone Biles lead Team USA to the women’s team all-around gymnastics gold medal on July 30. She also attended the men’s tennis final at Roland Garros on Sunday, August 4, watching Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal.
Serena announced she was stepping away from competitive tennis in an August 2022 essay for Vogue. Her final tournament was the U.S. Open the following month.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people,” she wrote. “Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”
