Serena Williams slams NYT for using a picture of her SISTER Venus to illustrate story

Serena Williams calls out the New York Times for mistakenly printing a photo of sister Venus in an article about her own achievements and calls out ‘engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases’

  • The Times published a story about Williams, 40, raising $111million for Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm started by the tennis legend 
  • Unfortunately, as Williams herself pointed out, the ‘paper of record’ used a photo of Williams’ older sister, Venus, to illustrate the story 
  • ‘No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it’s not enough,’ she wrote. ‘This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures,’ she wrote on Twitter 
  • ‘Even I am overlooked. You can do better, @nytimes’ she finished
  • The Times replied to Williams shortly after in a tweet of its own explaining how the mistake came to be 


Serena Williams had a forehand smash for the New York Times after an embarrassing mistake made on an article about her new venture capital firm. 

The Times published a story about Williams, 40, raising $111million for Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm started by the tennis legend that will ‘invest in founders with diverse points of view.’

Unfortunately, as Williams herself pointed out, the ‘paper of record’ used a photo of Williams’ older sister, Venus, to illustrate the story.  

Serena took to Twitter to vent her annoyance with the blunder.  

‘No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it’s not enough,’ she wrote. ‘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.’

Legendary tennis star Serena Williams is hitting out at the New York Times for an egregious error in a story about her new venture capital firm

The 'paper of record' used a photo of Williams' older sister, Venus, to illustrate the story

The ‘paper of record’ used a photo of Williams’ older sister, Venus, to illustrate the story

The Times replied to Williams shortly after in a tweet of its own explaining how the mistake came to be. 

‘This was our mistake,’ The Times’ Business section Twitter account tweeted. ‘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.’

Williams has yet to respond to the apology. 

Serena and Venus, 41, have often been paired together and have played doubles at major tournaments, but Serena has established herself as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Williams has 23 Grand Slam titles, the most of any woman, and is the only tennis player, male or female, to win three of the four traditional Grand Slams at least 6 times. 

Serena Williams (pictured left) and sister Venus Williams attend the HBO New York Premiere of 'Being Serena' at Time Warner Center

Serena Williams (pictured left) and sister Venus Williams attend the HBO New York Premiere of ‘Being Serena’ at Time Warner Center

The New York Times daily newspaper building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City

The New York Times daily newspaper building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City

Serena Ventures has raised $111million for investments in 'diverse points of view'

Serena Ventures has raised $111million for investments in ‘diverse points of view’

Venus, for her part, has won Wimbledon five times and the US Open twice. 

As a doubles team, the Williams sisters have won 13 titles and three Olympic Gold Medals. 

Serena Ventures‘, launched early this year, said its goal is to ‘invest in founders who solve everyday problems through unconventional thinking and diverse points of view. Writing the check is only the start. As pre-seed through Series A investors, we are true accomplices.’

The firm also boasts an ‘unparalleled network of partners across distribution, marketing, and sales is why founders continue to choose us.’

Williams told the Times that she’s been interested in jumping into this space for some time and that it was even part of how she struck up a relationship with her eventual husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanion. 

‘When I met my husband, that was our first conversation. That’s how we met. I was talking about investments.’