Serena Williams slams NYT after newspaper publishes sister Venus' photo in article on Serena Ventures
File image of Serena Williams. AP
Tennis superstar Serena Williams has slammed The New York Times for using a photo of her sister Venus in a report about Serena Ventures, the venture capital firm established by Williams recently. The former World No 1 has raised $111 million for her venture fund till date.
Serena Williams took to Twitter and called out the publication for using the incorrect photo. "No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it's not enough," she wrote while posting an image of the NYT article. "This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures.”
The tennis legend added that her aim was to give support to “the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases”. She further stated that even she had been overlooked by the system and asked The New York Times to “do better”.
View the post here:
No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it's not enough. This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures. To support the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases. Because even I am overlooked. You can do better, @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/hvfCl5WUoz
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 2, 2022
The New York Times apologised for the incident and stated that the mistake occurred due to an error while selecting photos for the print version of the article. The same mistake had not been repeated in the online version of the report, according to the NYT’s statement. The publication added that it would print a corrected version of the article the next day.
This was our mistake. It was due to an error when selecting photos for the print edition, and it did not appear online. A correction will appear in tomorrow’s paper.
— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) March 2, 2022
Williams' husband and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian also called out NYT for the mix-up.
I've never had my photo swapped for another white dude. You'd think they'd know @Venuseswilliams from @serenawilliams after 20 years https://t.co/k51tAp1jYB
— Alexis Ohanian 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ (@alexisohanian) March 2, 2022
The mix-up was criticised by fans of the American tennis legend as well as Australian tennis coach Rennae Stubbs, who called the mistake “outrageous”.
This is outrageous…..after all these years, u still can’t get a picture of Serena and NOT Venus right! Wow https://t.co/mzXWkTdvVw
— Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs) March 2, 2022
Author Luvvie Ajayi Jones called out the publication for its “utter laziness and carelessness” in printing the wrong photo.
This is absolutely ridiculous! And then they used Venus' picture. The utter laziness and carelessness is astounding @nytimes. https://t.co/2IvvEbPbQN
— Luvvie is the #ProfessionalTroublemaker (@Luvvie) March 2, 2022
Serena Williams is currently ranked 237th in the World Tennis Association rankings. The 23-time Grand Slam winner recently dropped out of the top 50 in the rankings for the first time since 2006.
The tennis superstar had earlier opted out of the Australian Open this year due to fitness issues, according to reports. Serena Williams has not returned to competitive action since Wimbledon last year, wherein she exited the first round with a hamstring injury.
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