Serena Williams news: Superstar slams The New York Times over photo debacle

James Richardson
March 3, 2022

Former World No 1 Serena Williams has blasted The New York Times after the newspaper printed a photo of her sister Venus on a story about her new capital venture fund.

The fund is aimed at encouraging diversity in the tech industry, and Williams feels that such an incident highlights why that work is so important.

Her older sister Venus is not in any way affiliated with the project, and it is unclear how the newspaper went to print with such an error.

In response to the mix-up, Serena Williams tweeted: “No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it’s not enough. This is why I raised $111M for (Serena Ventures). To support the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases. Because even I am overlooked. You can do better [NY Times].”

“This was our mistake. It was due to an error when selecting photos for the print edition, and it did not appear online. A correction will appear in tomorrow’s paper.”

Serena revealed that the genesis of this venture led to her meeting her husband Alexis Ohanian, who is the founder of Reddit and a prominent tech investor.

The publication have since apologised for the error and promised a correction.

“I’ve always been fascinated with technology, and I’ve always loved how it really shapes our lives.

“When I met my husband, that was our first conversation. That’s how we met. I was talking about investments.”

No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it’s not enough. This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures. To support the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases. Because even I am overlooked. You can do better, @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/hvfCl5WUoz

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 2, 2022

Serena still hasn’t confirmed when she will retire but has indicated that she knows what she wants to do after she gives up tennis.

“I am prepared for that day, I’ve been prepared for that day for over a decade,” Serena said when asked about her retirement plans earlier this year.

“So, I’ve always — if you’ve seen King Richard — you know that my dad always said you got to prepare, so I’ve been prepared for that. You know, at the end of the day, I think it’s really important to always have a plan and that’s kind of what I did. I always had a plan,”

Serena Williams