Serena Williams says she was left sans bon appétit after she was denied service by a luxury restaurant in Paris during the 2024 Olympics.
On Aug. 5, the retired tennis player took to X to raise a grievance against the Peninsula Hotel in Paris with emojis to express her disappointment.
“Yikes @PeninsulaParis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids,” she wrote. “Always a first. #Olympic2024.”
The 42-year-old, who has four Olympic gold medals and 23 Grand Slam singles titles, appeared as a flagbearer in the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics and has been seen cheering on athletes.
On X, Williams’ post spurred users to take sides. Users either supported the tennis star in criticizing the restaurant or were quick to suggest she was coming from a place of entitlement.
“Exceptional people deserve exceptional service even in less than exceptional places such as The Peninsula Paris,” one person replied.
“Or maybe the ‘big name celebrity’ shouldn’t be entitled thinking that she can take someone else’s table?” another countered.
“Accommodate people with large microphones,” a user argued. “She very much has a larger microphone and quite frankly it was bad customer service to not find a solution. Whoever the manager on duty was didn’t think this through.”
The Peninsula Paris is a five-star luxury hotel located in the heart of Paris, France, which features fine dining and a rooftop terrace.
Though Williams did not specify in her post which restaurant at the hotel she attempted to dine, the restaurant responded to her post, suggesting she had attempted to eat at L’Oiseau Blanc, the hotel’s dining venue with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
“Dear Mrs. Williams,” the hotel replied. “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.”
“We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again,” the restaurant added in a follow-up post.
The Peninsula Paris responded to TODAY.com’s request for comment with the following statement:
“In response to Mrs. Williams’ tweet, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all our esteemed guests; we can only reiterate our deepest apologies for her perception of tonight’s situation. Today, August 5th, our rooftop bar was indeed unfortunately fully booked, and the only unoccupied tables at that time belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was also fully reserved tonight. She has always and will always be more than welcome with her family to The Peninsula.”
Williams, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the situation, won four Olympic gold medals during her tennis career. She won her first gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games for doubles. Later, she competed beside her sister in doubles to win gold at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London games. In London, she also won the gold medal for singles.