Per NBC News, Serena Williams is one of the world’s biggest athletic stars: She has won four gold Olympic medals in tennis and bore the torch at this year’s opening ceremony.
She and her sister, fellow tennis star Venus Williams, have been making headlines for years — including very recently in an incident in Paris.
A Parisian restaurant turned Serena Williams and her children away from their empty tables, sparking controversy.
Why did the restaurant turn Serena Williams away?
On Monday, Aug. 5, Williams shared a post to X of the Peninsula Hotel’s sign and a pointed caption.
“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in an empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids,” she wrote. “Always a first. #Olympic2024.”
Peninsula quickly posted a response, saying that they were fully booked.
The Peninsula’s decision has left the Internet divided, per NBC News. Some have criticized Williams for her “entitlement.” Others have harangued the restaurant.
One user even examined the Peninsula’s website and commented that the restaurant does not seem to take reservations.
Paris’s much-criticized hospitality
The incident adds to a growing theme of criticism concerning Paris’s ability to host the Olympics.
Paris′s Olympic Village has been much maligned by athletes and tourists alike, as the Deseret News previously reported. Food, water, bedding, temperature and privacy have all taken heat.
“Living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform,” said elite swimmer Ariarne Titmus said, citing how the village’s cafeteria has rationed high-protein foods.
Despite claims from Paris Games organizers and insistence from the mayor of Paris herself, per The Associated Press, the Seine River, which triathletes and distance swimmers have competed in, has received flak for high levels of pollution.
Two triathletes developed gastrointestinal illnesses shortly after wading out of the Seine, per Euro News.
Belgium triathlete Jolien Vermeylen made her complaints public, sharing with Flemish media that she “felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about” in the depths of the Seine.
“The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority,” Vermeylen said, per ABC 3340.
Transportation woes and security concerns further exacerbate the City of Light’s poor image, according to Iran Press. Some are even arguing that the Games should be stationed in a different city, permanently, to avoid such a situation happening again with an unfit host city, per Fortune.