Serena Williams' husband & Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian takes a dig at ESPN for reducing his identity to his wife in coverage of historic donation

Serena Williams' husband and Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, has criticized the sports media conglomerate ESPN for how they framed their coverage of him. Ohanian took issue with his work primarily being recognized in relation to his wife, despite his own achievements.

Since stepping down from Reddit's board in 2020, Ohanian has actively promoted and invested in women's sports. He led the investment in the NWSL team Angel City FC, which he co-owns with Serena Williams and their daughter Olympia. Additionally, the 41-year-old founded Athlos, a groundbreaking female-only track and field event.

Alexis Ohanian recently also made headlines for donating a record-breaking amount to the University of Virginia's women's basketball team, honoring his alma mater, where he conceptualized the idea of Reddit.

However, controversy arose when a user on X expressed frustration with ESPN for their coverage of the historic donation. The user pointed out that the headline only referred to Ohanian as 'Serena's husband,' arguing that it overlooked the Reddit co-founder's significant personal accomplishments.

"I’m sure @alexisohanian doesn’t mind being referred to as “Serena’s husband” but come onnnnnn ESPN. Really??? A L E X I S O H A N I A N. I get that she’s the GOAT & all lol. But the man is also extremely accomplished & highly successful in his own right 👏🏼 😅," the user posted.

Alexis Ohanian himself took a dig at ESPN, sarcastically remarking that titles like 'Reddit co-founder' or 'founding control owner of Angel City FC' attracted fewer clicks than the 23-time Grand Slam champion's name.

"Hehe Reddit cofounder and/or @weareangelcity founding control owner just doesn't have the same clickthru-rate, eh?" Ohanian wrote.

"I’ll be a self-made billionaire and most people will still know me as Serena Williams' husband" - Alexis Ohanian

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian with their daughter Olympia (Source: Getty)

Despite his apparent annoyance at ESPN's reductive portrayal, Alexis Ohanian has previously declared that he doesn't mind being known to the world as Serena Williams' husband.

During a fan interaction on X (formerly Twitter) in 2021, Ohanian remarked that while he would be a "self-made billionaire" someday, he was comfortable with the knowledge that most people would still only know him as the 23-time Grand Slam champion's husband or their daughter Olympia's father.

"I love how you don’t mind that they call you Serena Williams’ husband," the fan posted.

"I’ll be a self-made billionaire one day and most people will still know me as Serena’s husband (or Olympia‘s dad) and that’s fine by me," Ohanian responded.

Earlier this year, Alexis Ohanian also poked fun at himself when he was mistaken for Serena Williams' personal "umbrella holder" during the coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics after he was spotted shielding his wife and daughter, Olympia, from the downpour.