Serena Williams Receives Apology From Paris Restaurant After Being Denied Entry

Tennis legend Serena Williams has been in Paris for the last eleven days. She is one of the many celebrities in the country for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Over the weekend, she went out to eat with her children at The Peninsula Paris, a fine dining restaurant attached to one of the most esteemed hotels in the city.

Williams took to X (formerly Twitter) to make her issues with her treatment by the restaurant known. “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty [sic] restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids,” Williams wrote, sharing a photo of the sign for the luxury hotel. “Always a first. #Olympic2024.” On Monday evening, The Peninsula Paris issued an apology, reaffirming that Williams is always welcome in their restaurant. They also explained their reasoning for turning Williams away, adding that the empty tables she saw were all reserved ahead of time.

Serena Williams Receives Apology From Peninsula Paris Restaurant

Dear Mrs. Williams,
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.

— The Peninsula Paris (@peninsulaparis) August 5, 2024

After Serena Williams’ original post, fans of hers showed support, especially since she was with her children. Some even accused the restaurant of racism. The Peninsula Paris’ response suggests that Williams being declined was done with much less malicious intent than some of her fans initially believed. Of course, their response also drew a mixed reaction. Some praised the restaurant for honoring the prior reservations made. On the opposite end, one of the top replies to their post asked why they didn’t tell her that while she was there. The implication in that tweet being the restaurant’s statement is more of an attempt at damage control than an accurate telling of events.

As the Olympics enter their final few days, many of the major sports have started to wind down. Gymnastics and swimming concluded over the weekend, while the final track events are set for Thursday. Fans saw Williams most at the gymnastics events, cheering on the Simone Biles-led USA women’s team as they all collected medals. Hopefully, her next visit to The Peninsula Paris goes a lot better than the last one did.