Serena Williams denies following in Michael Jackson’s footsteps by bleaching her skin!
Tennis pro Serena Williams has hit back at claims of skin bleaching after a viral video sparked a row with fans.
The 43-year-old set the record straight in an Instagram Live video on Monday, where she directly addressed the issue after she appeared lighter in “stage makeup” for her daughter’s play.
During the live broadcast, the sports star was seen maneuvering through her make-up routine as she stopped to quickly shut down rumours: “And no, for you haters out there, I don’t bleach my skin.”
She added: “There is a thing called sunlight and in that sunlight you get different colors.”
Williams explained how in the latest video, which fueled the skin bleaching rumours, she wore “stage makeup” while volunteering at her daughter Olympia’s school play – where she helped stage the event for the six-year-old.
She continued: “It’s ridiculous that everyone is like, ‘Oh, she’s bleaching her skin.’ I’m a dark black woman and I love who I am and I love the way I look. And it’s just not my thing.”
“And if people do that, that’s their thing, and they have every opportunity, and they should, I don’t judge.”
She then reiterated: “But no, I’m not actually bleaching my skin. So can we just get that straight?”
Later in the video, she noted the gold wallpaper in her bathroom behind her, saying it blended well with the light to “give her more of her true color.”
She then joked: “The color I’ve never bleached.”
The original scandalous TikTok showed Williams with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, volunteering at their daughter’s school play. The clip quickly drew comments that her skin looked lighter than usual.
One person wrote: “They say they don’t bleach which is true because they do chemical peels and other skin lightening s–t! So technically it’s not bleaching.”
Another said: “Serena is beautiful, but she’s definitely lightened over the years. Maybe it’s chemical peels!!!”
Some simply noted how Williams was “already beautiful” and said they no longer recognized her.
In her defense, others said that Williams’ possible skin bleaching could have come from her “playing outside 12 hours a day” as a former tennis pro or that she just “didn’t know how to put on makeup.”
Williams received similar criticism after she shared her latest selfie in November, with some even blaming her look on the “Michael Jackson effect.”
The late pop singer was diagnosed with vitiligo in 1986 and was said to hide her uneven patches of skin with bright make-up and possibly skin-lightening creams.
One commented: “The photo is amazing, but it also makes me sad. The Hollywood facelift is obvious. It’s the dark-skinned Michael Jackson effect. Sigh.”
Another said: “Her skin is getting lighter and lighter in different pictures.”
Williams widely regarded as the greatest female tennis player in history, with 23 Grand Slam titles under her belt, including six US Open championships.
She turned professional in October 1995 and officially retired in September 2022 after 27 years.
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Avigail is an entertainment blogger at All About The Tea, specializing in The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Potomac. Avigail has a background in marketing. She is a Brooklynite living in the Bahamas, with a passion for travel, writing, reality TV, pop culture and spoken word.
