Serena Williams Spirals Over Apparently Racist Decor At NYC Hotel
Retired tennis champion Serena Williams is under fire after she complained about what she described as “racist” decor during her stay at a New York City hotel this week.
Williams, in town for a Kim Kardashian promotional event, posted video on Instagram Stories showing a vase filled with faux cotton stems. The 23-time Grand Slam winner told her 18 million followers that the display “doesn’t feel great,” visibly shivering as she asked them how they “feel” about the cotton.
Serena Williams gets triggered by a cotton plant at her luxury hotel
These people are so fu#%ing insufferable and performative
Acting triggered with a $250m net worth and a long blonde wig is wild
You crip-walked at the Super Bowl and your sister was killed by crips
Sit down pic.twitter.com/Ej1yDaDl6u
— Amiri King (@AmiriKing) September 26, 2025
The post sparked backlash almost immediately. Commentator Megyn Kelly slammed Williams’ reaction as out of touch given her enormous success in America.
“Serena Williams is triggered by cotton, I guess because it used to be picked by slaves, and she’s a black American? It’s 2025,” Kelly said. “Serena Williams is estimated by Forbes to be worth $350 million. She’s married to a very, very rich man, too. But she is an oppressed, direct descendant of slaves, I guess, and that’s how she sees herself to this day … She can’t walk by a cotton plant in a luxury hotel to go promote Kim Kardashian’s Skims line without feeling ‘trauma’ that she has to videotape and post on Instagram.”
Megyn Kelly reacts to Serena Williams’ bizarre post on cotton at a luxury hotel.
“Serena Williams is triggered by cotton I guess because it used to be picked by slaves and she’s a black American? It’s 2025. Serena Williams is estimated by Forbes to be worth $350 million.” pic.twitter.com/wRENsBClAu
— Girl patriot (@Girlpatriot1974) September 27, 2025
It’s not the first time Williams has accused luxury establishments of racial bias. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, she blasted The Peninsula Paris hotel after claiming she and her children were “denied” entry to the rooftop restaurant. Hotel officials pushed back, explaining the tables she saw were part of a different restaurant that was fully booked.
We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again.
The Peninsula Paris
— The Peninsula Paris (@peninsulaparis) August 5, 2024
Williams, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, has also made headlines recently for her partnership with Ro, a telehealth company marketing GLP-1 weight loss drugs. She has spoken publicly about using the medications herself and is now the face of campaigns aimed at normalizing their use.