Serena Williams Forced to DENY She 'Did a Michael Jackson' by Bleaching Her Skin — After Viral Video Sparked Brutal 'Whitening' Trolling of Tennis Icon
Serena Williams has denied bleaching her skin after a viral video circulated online.
Dec. 3 2024, Published 12:20 p.m. ET
Tennis pro Serena Williams has hit back at skin-bleaching claims after a viral video stirred up a scandal with fans.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the 43-year-old set the record straight in an Instagram Live video on Monday, where she directly addressed the problem after she appeared lighter in "stage makeup" for her daughter's play.
The former tennis star said she 'loves her dark skin' and blamed possible confusion on the sunlight's effect.
During the live, the sports star was seen maneuvering through her makeup routine as she stopped to quickly shut down rumors: "And no, for you haters out there, I do not bleach my skin."
She added: "There is a thing called sunlight and in that sunlight you get different colors."
Williams had fans concerned after she shared a video appearing lighter while volunteering at her daughter's school play.
Williams explained how in the recent video that fueled the skin bleaching rumors, she was wearing "stage makeup" while volunteering at her daughter Olympia’s school play – where she helped out with the event for the six-year-old.
She continued: "It is ridiculous that everyone is like 'Oh she bleaches her skin.' I'm a dark black woman and I love who I am and I love how I look. And that's just not my thing.
"And if people do it that's their thing, and they have every opportunity, and they should, I don't judge."
She then reiterated: "But no, I actually don't bleach my skin. So can we just kind of clear that up?"
Later on in the video, she noted the gold wallpaper in her bathroom behind her and said it mixed well with the light to "give her more of her true color".
She then joked: "The color that I've never bleached."
The original scandal-stirring TikTok showed Williams with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, as they volunteered at their daughter's school play. The clip quickly sparked comments about her skin appearing lighter than usual.
One person wrote: "They say they don’t bleach which is true because they are doing chemical peels and other s--t that make the skin lighter! So technically it’s not bleaching."
Another said: "Serena is beautiful, but she has definitely gotten lighter over the years. Maybe it’s the chemical peels!!!"
Some simply noted how Williams was "already beautiful" and said they no longer recognized her.
The athlete said she was wearing 'stage makeup' that changed the way her skin looked.
In her defense, others said William's possible skin-lightening could have come from her "playing outside for 12 hours a day" as a former tennis professional or that she just "didn't know how to do her makeup".
Williams received similar criticism after she shared her latest selfie in November, where some even blamed her look on the "Michael Jackson effect".
Williams received criticism for her seemingly lighter skin tone on her latest selfie post in November.
The late pop singer was diagnosed with vitiligo in 1986 and was said to conceal his uneven skin patches with light-colored makeup and possibly skin-bleaching creams.
One commented: "The photo is stunning, but it also makes me feel sad. The Hollywood facial transformation is evident. It's the dark skinned Michael Jackson effect. Sigh."
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Another said: "Her skin keeps getting lighter and lighter in different pics."
Williams is widely regarded as the greatest female tennis player in history, with 23 Grand Slam titles to her name, including six US Open championships.
Some critics claimed Williams had the 'Michael Jackson effect' after her recent posts caused major controversy.
She turned professional in October 1995 and officially retired in September 2022 after 27 years.
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