Serena Williams’ recent social media post has some fans concerned about the state of her marriage to husband Alexis Ohanian.
On Oct. 21, the 43-year-old tennis legend shared a message about someone stealing her joy with her 10.3 million followers on X weeks ahead of their eight year-anniversary.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this (maybe no one) but if someone, even someone close to you is robbing you of your joy it’s ok to walk away,” Williams posted.
Many X users reacted to Williams’ words, assuming she was subtly addressing her marriage with the 41-year-old Reddit co-founder.
“If that someone close to you is your spouse, you try to work it out rather than walk away because there’s no such thing as a perfect marriage,” one person replied,
Another X user responded, “If your own spouse is robbing you of your joy then wtf is there to work out? That’s not an imperfect marriage, that’s hell.”
If your own spouse is robbing you of your joy then wtf is there to work out? That’s not an imperfect marriage, that’s hell. 🤨
— Renée Sense (@burnahthe2nd) October 21, 2024
A third person asked the 23-time Grand Slam champion bluntly, wondered, “You are not in that situation, are you? We cannot deal with bad news at the moment.”
However, a few people completely rejected the idea of Williams walking away from her family, including one who asked, “Why has walking away been normalized? Try working things out first or you never cared.”
Someone else fired back, “Absolutely! No one is entitled to make you miserable when they have access to you by your choice. Simply remove that access. Life is too short.”
Referring to another celebrity, who is currently going through her fourth divorce, one person offered some advice writing, “I learned from Jennifer Lopez…the girl just moved on…she might be sad and sick, but she moves the hell on….”
Williams has not confirmed that her post about “robbing you of your joy” was about Ohanian. Yet the post arrives months after unverified speculation about trouble in their marriage.
In early July 2024, internet users pointed out that Serena’s Instagram page lacked a lot of posts featuring her spouse.
Within days, the Compton native uploaded a picture featuring herself, Ohanian, and their oldest daughter, Alexis Olympia, to her account, shutting down the naysayers.
The couple is approaching their seventh wedding anniversary next month. They initially dated for two years after meeting at a hotel in Rome in May 2015.
Alexis Olympia was born on Sept. 1, 2017, and their second daughter, Adira River, arrived on Aug. 15, 2023.
As rumors of a split spread across the web, Williams and Ohanian made headlines by attending the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics in July. A Eurosport correspondent mistakenly referred to the entrepreneur as his wife’s “umbrella holder.”
Ohanian responded to the gaffe by writing, “I’m also Olympia’s personal umbrella holder. Sidebar: Y’all set the bar too low for me. Celeb dads get flowers just for *acknowledging* they have kids.”
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian have faced public scrutiny throughout their marriage. For instance, in August, Ohanian clapped back at a troll on X for accusing him of using his wife’s money.
On Aug. 2, Ohanian promised to pay $60,000 to any of the Athlos-connected track competitors who won a gold medal at the Paris Games.
A critic responded to the new writing, “Translation; ‘I am going to use Serena’s money because [I] have no money to spend like that.’”
Ohanian hit back, “You created an entire Twitter account just to say something that stupid?”
Both serial entrepreneurs have respective personal fortunes north of nine figures. The WYN Beauty founder has a speculated $340 million net worth, while Ohanian’s is estimated to be $150 million.
While unsubstantiated breakup rumors continue to circulate online, Serena and Ohanian made separate Instagram posts about attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour with Olympia.
Regardless of the social media talk, it appears that the Williams-Ohanian household are sticking together for now.
