What’s the Real Reason Serena Williams Was Turned Away From a Paris Restaurant?

Serena Williams has delivered some memorable Olympics moments during her spectacular tennis career. However, she may want to forget a recent incident at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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On Monday, the four-time Olympic gold medalist took to social media to call out The Peninsula Paris Hotel for denying her family a table at its rooftop restaurant. “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first,” she wrote on X.

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Those are the only details Serena offers, so she’s not giving a possible reason why she was turned away, but the restaurant is saying it was fully booked. It responded to her post, explaining how the situation happened.

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“Dear Mrs. Williams, Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight,” the hotel’s statement reads. “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.”

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“We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again. The Peninsula Paris,” the establishment added.

The internet seems split on the situation, with some calling Serena an “entitled celebrity,” while others think she would’ve been treated differently if she were any other famous person.

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One user thanked the hotel for putting regular guests first, writing on X, “Dear Peninsula Paris, You did not have to do this but thank you for keeping regular customers’ reservations instead of caving in to an entitled celebrity’s grifting complaint on social media. She should have made a reservation like everyone else.”

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Someone else noted that the restaurant could’ve explained this in the moment, posting, “How come yall didn’t say that when she was still there?”

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Another person wondered, “Who doesn’t make room for a queen?”

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We’re ride or die for Serena, but if the hotel’s statement is true and they were just fully booked because the whole world has descended on Paris, this situation might not be as complicated, and everyone should calm down.