Serena Williams alleges Parisian restaurant denied her service

American former tennis star Serena Williams. Photo from Williams’ Instagram

According to The Telegraph, Williams took to X to share her frustration.

“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places,” she posted on Tuesday, punctuated with frowning emojis. “But never with my kids. Always a first.”

As of Wednesday, the post has garnered 7 million views, with many followers expressing dismay and solidarity in the comments.

“How does one get denied when they are Serena Williams…… lol,” wrote a Twitter user.

“Glad you didn’t have to waste money there,” another said.

In response, The Peninsula Paris also left a comment under the former athlete’s post, which read: “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,” it continued.

Maxime Mannevy, a staffer at the Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, told Variety that Williams, who appeared with another woman and a stroller, was “unrecognizable.” She explained that there were “only two tables available” when Williams arrived, both reserved by hotel clients.

“My colleague didn’t recognize her and feels terrible, but he told her what he would have told any other client, which is to wait downstairs in the bar for a table to become available,” she went on. “That was absolutely nothing personal.”

Williams, 43, is celebrated as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She held the world No. 1 spot in singles for 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and ended the year as No. 1 five times. Her 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles are the most by any player in the Open Era and the second-most overall.

Williams is also the only player to achieve a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

She was among the Olympic flame’s torch bearers at the opening ceremony of this year’s Paris Olympics.