“Far too many tournaments still need to give equal pay,” Michelle Obama gives a rousing speech highlighting the gender pay gap as she honors Billie Jean King at the US Open

Billie Jean King led the protest against unequal pay in tennis.

“Far too many tournaments still need to give equal pay,” Michelle Obama gives a rousing speech highlighting the gender pay gap as she honors Billie Jean King at the US Open

Michelle Obama with Billie Jean King (Images via X)

Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama hailed the former American World No.1 Billie Jean King for her efforts for the upliftment of women’s tennis players across the globe. As the US Open celebrated 50 years of equal play on Monday, Obama gave a rousing speech and hailed Billie Jean for raising the voice against unequal play in the sport. 

Obama said that Billie Jean could have put her head down and not said a word while she received a much lower amount for winning the same tournament as her male counterparts. However, the tennis ace did not keep quiet and demanded equal play which eventually paid dividends. 

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Obama remembered how men tennis players were paid as much as eight times more than women players before the US Open implemented the equal play policy. She also remembered a misogynist comment made by Bobby Riggs. 

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“50 years ago, men were paid as much as 8 times more than women. Then there were folks like Bobby Riggs out there making ridiculous statements like ‘women belong in the bedroom & kitchen’. Billie Jean had a choice. She could put her head down, keep winning tournament after tournament & accept whatever check she was given. Or she could dig deep & break serve. She could make a stand,” said Obama.

“If you know Billie Jean, you know what she chose to do. She rallied other players, barricading together in a hotel, forming a coalition, finding sponsors, using their platform to force people to listen. Thankfully the organizers of the US Open had the guts to listen.”

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Michelle Obama claims Billie Jean changed the world

Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (Image via Getty Images)

After her meeting with the former American tennis great, Michelle Obama shared pictures with Billie Jean and rejoiced about the occasion. Obama also claimed that Billie Jean King’s protest against unequal play and its results not just changed tennis but the world. 

Notably, after huge protests, the US Open implemented equal play. 50 years later, the tournament pays a whopping USD 3 million to its winner in both men’s and women’s singles categories. The 2023 US Open has a massive prize pool of USD 65 million.

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