‘He Was Badgering Me’- Venus Williams Recalls the Infamous Interviewer Incident When Her Dad Lashed Out

Venus Williams’ father, Richard Williams, drew the attention of people by interrupting John McKenzie’s interview with Venus Williams. ABC News recorded the interview in 1995, shortly after the player turned professional. The focus of the interview was on covering what the player aims to achieve in the future. However, it turned sour as McKenzie’s way of questioning irked Richard Williams.

Richard is an American tennis coach and father of Serena and Venus Williams. Evidently, Richard has always been protective of his daughters. And one such event that proves the same is his argument with McKenzie. McKenzie kept questioning Venus’s self-confidence in winning against the next rival. Even though Venus reacted calmly with a smile on her face, her father couldn’t tolerate the behavior.

Richard responded by saying, “You’ve got to understand that you’re dealing with an image of a 14-year-old child. And this child gonna be out there playing when your old a** and me gonna be in the grave. When she say something, we done told you what’s happening. You’re dealing with a little Black kid, and let her be a kid.” 

“She done answered it with a lot of confidence. Leave that alone!” He added.

Thoughts of Venus Williams on the Incident

Williams has accomplished a lot as a player, as she has 73 titles and 7 Grand Slam victories under her name. Recently in a podcast with Will Smith interviewed Serena and Venus. Venus, while talking about her experience as a tennis player and other such topics also shed some light upon the incident.

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She said,” I actually never watched it since that day. It was intense. I was thinking, well I am just gonna sit here. He was badgering me, and it looked like he was enjoying. He’s like, but are you confident?. Now at this age I understand that I don’t have to answer that or like to move on from that. That’s what I would do now. I was just thinking, yeah they don’t know my dad.”

“I knew it was gonna happen. Dad knew it was coming. I kept answering the questions. You know we have been under pressure; we have been under pressure in the court and my dad kept asking me why does a rich man keep on getting richer and poor man get poorer. Meanwhile, you’re like 5 years old, but you have to answer. You can’t say I don’t know. We were long prepared before for the pressure we have to deal with in life. When you step into these interviews, or when you step in these classrooms, there’s pressure everywhere in life. So that was kind of good example of not only of protection but also being ready for the world.” She added.

The seven-times major champion has proved her potential many times; after the incident, keeping true to her confidence. Recently the tennis legend made a successful Hollywood debut as an executive producer with the film ‘King Richard’. However, her game has been on the offside. As she has not been on the circuit for quite some time now. 

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Nevertheless, we wish her all the best and hope to see Williams’s sister duo back on the court soon.