'This Isn't Healthy': Serena Williams Faces Parenting Backlash Over Controversial Confession About Disciplining Her Young Daughter

Serena Williams was mocked by critics for being too soft after the tennis icon admitted she broke down in tears while disciplining one of her young daughters, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Williams, 44, took to X to vent about the struggle of punishing her child, revealing she banned her from a friend’s sleepover after the youngster refused to go to bed. After admitting she "hates" disciplining her kids, the retired superstar was swiftly trolled by critics online.

While Williams didn't reveal which of her two daughters she shares with husband Alexis Ohanian was on the receiving end of the punishment, it appeared to be about 8-year-old Olympia, as 2-year-old Adira seemed a little young to be going to a sleepover party.

"I told my daughter to go to bed. She did not, therefore, she missed out on her sleepover. She cried," the seven-time Wimbledon champ began in her post. "But what she did not know is I cried harder. I hate when she cries. Discipline sucks. But sometimes it’s important."

The 23-time grand slam champ received a bevy of mixed reactions in the comments.

"What does she want, a round of applause? Weird," one person noted about the post, and a second user agreed, "What are we supposed to do with this information?"

"Nope, doesn't suck. And I definitely wouldn't cry over that. Every decision has a consequence, good or bad," a third advised the businesswoman.

"This isn’t healthy parenting. It’s called being right by force. It doesn’t teach a child how to self-soothe, regulate, or understand their emotions," a critical fourth person wrote.

A fifth user showed empathy, telling Williams, "Hang in there, the hardest part of loving a child is sometimes being the one person they are allowed to be mad at."

Williams has had more time to be a full-time mom after retiring from professional tennis in 2022, although she remains active in her S by Serena fashion line and Nine Two Six multimedia production company.

As part of her post-tennis life, she and Ohanian welcomed Adira in 2023, after Williams briefly paused her athletic career in 2017 to give birth to Olympia.

The Wyn Beauty founder admitted she had difficulty losing weight after both pregnancies, and after her second, she went on a GLP-1 in an effort to prioritize her health for the sake of her children.

Williams explained how she lost a lot of weight in the first few weeks postpartum, but after that, "I never lost another pound," in a 2025 interview. "I just thought, gosh, I don't know if I would ever be able to get back to where I needed to get to."