Serena Williams has come out and claimed that she was “denied access” to a luxury restaurant located in a Paris hotel.
The hotel, in turn, says the restaurant had been full.
NBC News reports how the acclaimed tennis star is currently in France for the Olympics, and decided to drop by the Peninsula Hotel with her children for a bite to eat.
“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in an empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids,” Williams later posted to X. “Always a first.”
Variety continues to report how Maxime Mannevy — an employee of the rooftop restaurant — informed the entertainment publication how her coworker didn’t recognize Williams and “told her what he would have told any other client, which is to wait downstairs in the bar for a table to become available.”
“That was absolutely nothing personal,” added Mannevy.
Indeed, some comments to Williams’s post echo the sentiment of Mannevy’s words.
“The restaurant replied and said they were fully booked,” stated one. “Please don’t start acting entitled and that they should make space for you just because of who you are.”
The restaurant itself even responded to Williams’s X post through their own account.
“Dear Mrs. Williams,” it 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.
“We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again. The Peninsula Paris.”
According to Variety, representatives for Williams were not immediately available for comment.
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