Former US tennis player Serena Williams arrives for The Prelude to the Olympics at The Fondation Louis Vuitton, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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If Emily can move freely in Paris, why not Serena Williams?
As we wind down the summer, we are also counting down to the end of the Paris Olympics which wraps up on Aug. 11. But not before we talk about how yet another Black woman was seemingly mistreated overseas.
Walk with me.
Serena Williams faced an unfortunate situation with her children while enjoying her time in Paris. She gave us plenty of good looks on social media and served as a torch bearer during the Olympic Games. But then, the retired 23-time Grand Slam champion was trying to dine at the Peninsula Paris and was denied access to one of their restaurants, according to her tweet.
“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.
Now, who denies THEE Serena Williams and her children a dining experience? Insane.
The restaurant responded the same day with a tweet.
“Dear Mrs. Williams, Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight,” the restaurant’s account tweeted . “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.”
Social media also reacted to Williams’ claims of unfair treatment, with some tweets defending Williams, while others questioned if this was just a moment of celebrity entitlement. (Who among us hasn’t walked into a restaurant wondering why there was an hourlong wait when several tables were empty?)
Just last year, a survey in mainland France reported that 9 in 10 Black people in the country had been victims of racial discrimination, Le Monde stated . So this isn’t an isolated incident; it just happened to get big news headlines because there’s a celebrity involved.
On top of that, several Black celebrities have spoken out about being mistreated when they have traveled overseas — and not just in France.
If you recall, Oprah Winfrey was trying to buy a bag from a Swiss shop overseas years back and was told she didn’t look like she “could afford” a $38,000 Tom Ford croc skin bag and was told to look at the ones that didn’t cost as much. Shortly after, the Swiss Tourism Office apologized for the incident.
Then, let’s circle it back to Kelly Rowland, who earlier this year was mistreated at the Cannes Film Festival after being aggressively ushered up the stairs, where the actor and singer had to defend herself.
Black people should be able to live and exist wherever they desire. To be unfairly treated when we’re trying to just have fun, spend money and enjoy the world like everyone else is frustrating. But then, when we defend ourselves, we’re labeled as “angry” or “emotional.” It almost feels like I keep repeating myself about incidents like these, but it’s still important to call out these moments.
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