Serena Williams has a message for her haters.
The tennis grand slam champion, who has won 23 titles at the age of 43, responded to recent social media discussions about the possibility of her having lightened her skin. Williams became the subject of rumors after posting a video of herself at a school event for her daughter Olympia, 7, whom she shares with her husband Alexis Ohanian, with whom she also has a 15-month-old daughter named Adira.
During an Instagram Live video on Monday, December 2, Williams shared her makeup routine with fans and called out the gossip.
Defending herself, Williams addressed the speculation in the video by revealing her makeup routine. She emphasized that she applies a neutral color that matches her skin tone after trying out two other shades. She made it clear that she does not bleach her skin, dismissing any negative comments about her appearance.
She added, “There is a thing called sunlight and in that sunlight, you get different colors.”
Williams clarified that the video in question showed her wearing “stage makeup” for a volunteer role at her daughter Olympia’s school play. She explained that the makeup was necessary for the event and had led to unwarranted discussions about her skin tone.
“Yes, I’m calling you out on this because it is ridiculous that everyone’s like, ‘Oh, she bleaches skin.’ I’m a dark Black woman, and I love who I am, and I love how I look,” Williams said.
“That’s just not my thing, and if people do it, that’s their thing and they have every opportunity and they should … I don’t judge, but you guys do,” she continued. “That’s what this world is about and I stay in my lane, the non-judgy one and I keep it. But, no, actually, I don’t bleach my skin. So, can we just kinda clear that up?”
As well as clearing up speculation about her skin color, Williams is also supporting her husband through a recent health scare. Ohanian, 41, shared last week that he had surgery on his thyroid to prevent cancer.
“After tracking some suspicious nodules on my thyroid for the last 4 years, I recently got half of it surgically removed,” Ohanian captioned an Instagram post on Thursday, November 28. “The nodules were getting bigger & the latest biopsy revealed they’d very likely turn cancerous.”
Ohanian shared that his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was his age, and ultimately died from brain cancer “a decade or so later.”
“I hate cancer,” he continued. “I wasn’t gonna take any chances.”
