Serena Williams Calls Out The New York Times for Using Photo of Venus

The print edition of The New York Times misidentified Venus Williams as her sister.

The New York Times published a story Tuesday about Serena Williams and her organization Serena Ventures. However, in Wednesday’s print edition, a picture of Williams’s sister, Venus, was featured.

Williams posted on Twitter to point out the mistake, and she used the situation as an example to why she raises money for those who are “overlooked.” She added that even she is overlooked by using this article as an example.

She ended her caption telling the newspaper that “You can do better.”

No matter how far we come, we get reminded that it's not enough. This is why I raised $111M for @serenaventures. To support the founders who are overlooked by engrained systems woefully unaware of their biases. Because even I am overlooked. You can do better, @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/hvfCl5WUoz

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 2, 2022

The Times’ business section's Twitter account responded to Williams’s tweet explaining how the mistake was just made in their paper version, not the online version. They also said they would be publishing a correction in tomorrow’s paper.

This was our mistake. It was due to an error when selecting photos for the print edition, and it did not appear online. A correction will appear in tomorrow’s paper.

— NYT Business (@nytimesbusiness) March 2, 2022

Serena Ventures has raised $111 million, as the story shares. 

The website states the mission as follows: “At Serena Ventures we envision a world in which genius isn’t stifled by a lack of resources. A future in which historically overlooked people and markets are empowered for a more inclusive economy.”