Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Rushes to Her Defense After Criticism for Displaying Cotton Artwork in Miami Home

Serena Williams was surprised to see cotton used as decor in a hotel in New York City.

Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Rushes to Her Defense After Criticism for Displaying Cotton Artwork in Miami Home

Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian (Image via X/Serena Williams, TENNIS)

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Serena Williams sparked a backlash when she criticized the use of cotton for decoration in a New York City hotel. Her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has now come to her support.

Williams took to her social media to post videos where she could be seen showing the cotton plant decoration in that hotel. The name of the hotel, however, she did not mention.

How do we feel about cotton as decoration? Personally, for me, it doesn’t feel great.

Serena Williams said in the video

Now Page Six reported that Williams previously showed off cotton artwork in her Miami home, and this only exacerbated the situation, as people started to call her a hypocrite. The art piece by Radcliffe Bailey, titled Monument for a Promise, created in 2013, depicts a donkey standing on a mound of cotton and carrying a chest that is tied to it with a rope, while a lock is dangling from its neck.

Baily passed away in November 2023 at the age of 55, and at that time, ARTnews reported that “Baily assembled an influential body of work that located objects he collected within a continuum of Black history“. Ohanian, after noticing Page Six’s report, took to X to share the reason behind the artwork in their home.

He said the art depicted the historical period when millions of Black slaves in the Deep South were forced to work on cotton plantations after the rapid expansion of the cotton industry in the late 19th century.

Folks entitled to have their opinions, but to use owning Radcliffe Bailey’s Monument for a Promise as some kind of a ‘gotchya’ is so breathtakingly stupid-there is some very obvious symbolism of the cotton in the artwork.

Alexis Ohanin wrote on X

Check out his post here:

NIKESkims’ ad featuring Serena Williams was slammed by Kaya

Serena Williams went to New York City to attend Kim Kardashian‘s NikeSKIMS (collaboration between Nike and Kardashian’s SKIMS) launch, held at Nike House of Innovation in Midtown Manhattan. The 23-time Singles Grand Slam champion was one of the 50 elite athletes to appear in the NikeSKIMS ad, called ‘Bodies at Work’.

Serena Williams
Serena Williams (Image via X/ESPN Tenis)

The videos showed these athletes working out in NikeSKIMS, which was slammed by tennis fashion influencer Kaya. She felt the video objectified women.

Whilst I may understand the underlying body positivity message that SKIMS preaches all the time, I can’t help but think that the wording as well as the camera angles of certain body parts are quite, I dare say, objectifying. People online have pointed out that the body parts they chose to focus on, as well as the subliminal messaging, are quite suggestive.

Kaya said in an Instagram video

Check out her post here:

Prior to this, Williams’ decision to inject herself with the GLP-1 drug Zepbound by Ro for weight loss divided people. She said despite working out a lot and eating healthy, she did not get the desired result and hence, she started to take the drug and felt more confident and lighter mentally.

Earlier this year, Williams’ crip walk during the Super Bowl also raised many eyebrows as she was accused of glorifying gang violence.

Williams hung up her racket at the 2022 US Open after her defeat to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round. After retirement, apart from her various business ventures, such as her beauty brand Wyn Beauty, the 44-year-old also recently launched a podcast, Stockton Street, along with her sister, the seven-time singles Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams, who is yet to hang up her racket and recently featured at the US Open, playing singles, doubles, as well as mixed doubles.

Also read: Lorenzo Musetti Apologizes for Controversial Chinese Comments at Beijing Open