Tennis superstar Serena Williams claims a Paris restaurant refused her access to its rooftop dining area while she was in town for the Summer Olympics . The incident allegedly occurred Monday evening when Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion and four-time gold medal winner, and her children tried to dine at luxury hotel Peninsula Paris’ outdoor eatery L’Oiseau Blanc. “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places, but never with my kids,” Williams, 42, wrote on social media.
“Always a first.” She added several emoji and a hashtag for the Olympics. Williams shares young daughters Adira and Olympia with husband Alexis Ohanian.
The restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, denied any impropriety in a reply to Williams’ post. “Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight,” Paris Peninsula replied. “Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant.
..which was fully reserved.
” L’Oiseau Blanc offers fine dining and views of the Paris skyline, including the Eiffel Tower, its website states. Williams retired from tennis in 2022 but was on hand as a torch bearer for the Olympics. She’s been spotted at several events, often sitting alongside other A-listers.
She won gold in women’s singles at the London games in 2012 and shared gold with her sister Venus in women’s doubles in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012..
