Serena Williams denied entry into Paris’s L’Oiseau Blanc after claims that she was ‘unrecognizable’

Serena Williams voiced her frustration with a high-end restaurant in Paris.

On Monday, August 5, the retired tennis star shared on X (formerly Twitter) that The Peninsula Hotel in Paris refused to seat her and her children, Alexis Olympia Jr., 6, and Adira River, 11 months.

“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 restaurant subsequently responded to the 42-year-old four-time Olympic gold medalist.

“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,” stated the restaurant’s initial response on Monday.

“We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again. The Peninsula Paris,” was the message in a subsequent post.

Maxime Mannevy, an employee at L’Oiseau Blanc, told Variety that Williams appeared “unrecognizable” when she arrived at the restaurant with another woman and a stroller.

Mannevy, who was not on duty when Williams visited the restaurant, stated, “When she came there were only two tables available and they had been reserved by clients of the hotel.” 

 “My colleague didn’t recognize her and feels terrible, but he 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.”

The Peninsula Paris also released a statement to TODAY: “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," the hotel said.

The statement added: “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 and her family arrived in Paris shortly before the Olympic opening ceremony. On July 26, during the ceremony, the 23-time Grand Slam champion participated as a torchbearer alongside several other athletes.