Serena Williams owns homes in California and Florida and an apartment in Paris, and I’m pretty sure she’s primarily based out of Florida. My point is that she stays in hotels whenever she’s in New York. These days, she’s mostly in New York for business, which is what happened this week. Three years after her retirement, Serena is still associated with Nike, one of her biggest sponsors when she was a tennis player. I would assume that Nike still pays Serena, even in retirement, just to get her to show up for certain Nike events. This week’s Nike event was the launch of Nike’s collaboration with SKIMS, Kim Kardashian’s brand. Well, Nike put Serena up in a hotel, and Serena did NOT like the hotel’s decor. She especially hated the vase holding the branches from a cotton plant.
Serena Williams spoke out after noticing a questionable decoration at a New York City hotel. Williams, 43, took to social media with a video of the decor, a vase holding a cotton plant on a table in the hallway, and asked her followers for their thoughts about the display. “Alright, everyone. How do we feel about cotton as decoration?”
“Personally for me, it doesn’t feel great,” Williams said in her Instagram Stories on Thursday, Sept. 25.
In a second post, the tennis star is speaking to the camera and holding a piece of the cotton used in the decoration. Williams tells viewers it “feels like nail polish remover cotton” and touches it before cringing and exiting the frame.
Williams’ trip to New York City included an appearance at a SKIMS event in support of her appearance in the brand’s film, Bodies at Work, which promotes their new collaboration with Nike. Sha’Carri Richardson, Jordan Chiles, Chloe Kim, Madisen Skinner, Romane Dicko, Beatriz Hatz and Nelly Korda are all part of the new campaign for NikeSKIMS alongside Williams.
This is currently a huge controversy on People’s site and there are over 1,100 comments debating whether or not “cotton plant branches” are appropriate decor in 2025. Keep in mind, Serena didn’t even say the thing, she didn’t say “this makes me uncomfortable because of America’s history with the slavery and the cotton industry.” She just left it open to stir debate. And now right-wingers are sobbing because Serena just… asked the question and expressed some dismay. Honestly, I wouldn’t bat an eye at a cotton-plant display as decor, because those displays are very common in the South, both in residences and businesses. That doesn’t make it right, and I feel like… sure, let’s talk about it and whether it’s appropriate.
Serena Williams questions cotton branches as decor pic.twitter.com/TcNCT6TJx7
— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) September 26, 2025
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
