Serena Williams blasts restaurant for denying her entry, netizens shout back ‘it’s racism’

Serena Williams was denied entry to the rooftop of a restaurant she visited with her family. The refusal angered the Olympic player as she complained about the mistreatment at the hotel in a post on X on Monday to which many users of the platform replied with claims of racism.

Restaurant denies rooftop entry to Serena Williams

Serena Williams denounced a Parisian hotel which denied her entry to the rooftop of the restaurant despite the restaurant being empty. She wrote about the incident in a post on the micro-blogging site, “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. #Olympic2024. You’re really Gonna Reject Me?!?!” The Peninsula Hotel, which denied Williams entry, is a five-star luxury hotel which boasts itself of the scenic and “breathtaking” beauty of the city from its hotel rooms.

Several hours later the hotel responded to her complaint on X. The restaurant wrote, “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,” as reported by Page Six. The tennis champion was in Paris for the Olympic Games 2024.

Netizens react to William’s post

Many users of the platform replied to the 42-year-old’s post and accused the hotel of racism. One user of X wrote, “It doesn’t matter how much money you have. Racism doesn’t care bro “ while another wrote, “You were denied access because they were serving prejudice. Shame on them.” A third user wrote, “Did you bring your white husband with you, might have helped.”

However, others had opposing thoughts about the issue. One user wrote, “Oh no they treated you like you were one of the common folk?! Did you tell them who you are?” while another said, “The restaurant replied and said they were fully booked. Please don’t start acting entitled and that they should make space for you just because of who you are.”

Another user replied to Williams, “Using your fame to trash a restaurant because they did not bend to your entitled demands is being the worst type of person. I thought you were better than this???”