A video of Venus Williams' father Richard Williams interrupting her interview to chide the interviewer for his line of questioning is doing the rounds on social media. The viral clip is from a 1995 interview with ABC News correspondent John McKenzie.
ABC News interviewed Venus Williams in 1995, at the start of her career. Before one of her matches, McKenzie persistently questioned the 14-year-old's confidence about her chances in the match.
"I know I can beat her," Williams, 14, said.
"You know you can beat her?," McKenzie said, to which Venus nodded.
"Very confident?," McKenzie questioned again.
"I am very confident," Williams replied.
"You say it so easily, why?," said the interviewer.
Richard Williams interrupted as Venus was about to answer and berated the interviewer for trying to put a damper on a 14-year-old child's confidence.
"Alright. Cut right there if you don't mind. And let me tell you why. What she said, she said it with so much confidence the first time, but you keep going on and on. You've got to understand that you're dealing with an image of a 14-year-old child," Richard Williams said to John McKenzie.
McKenzie protested against the interruptions but Richard continued lashing out and said that he must let the kid be and leave her alone.
"And this child gonna be out there playing when your old a** and me are gonna be in the grave. When she says something, we done told you what's happening. You're dealing with a little Black kid — and let her be a kid. She answered it with a lot of confidence. Leave that alone," he said.
The video has now gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) as it has received more than 800,000 views with upwards of 21,000 users liking it.
Venus Williams talks about the 1995 interview: "It was intense... He was badgering me"
Venus Willimas shared her thoughts the ABC News 1995 interview in November 2021 and said that it was very intense, adding that the interviewer kept on badgering her. She also lavished praise on her father, Richard Williams for intervening.
Richard played a huge role in Venus and Serena Williams' legendary careers. His dedication to the sister's tennis has been immortalized in the film King Richard, starring Will Smith in the titular role.
Smith sat down with Venus Williams and Serena Williams for an interview on the podcast 'Red Table Talk' in an episode titled 'Will Smith Invites Venus and Serena to the Table'. During the episode, the 44-year-old talked about the infamous 1995 interview with ABC News.
"It was intense. I was thinking, well I am just gonna sit here. He was badgering me, and it looked like he was enjoying. He’s like, but are you confident?. What's going on dude. Now at this age I understand that I don’t have to answer that or like to move on from that. That’s what I would do now. I was just thinking, yeah they don’t know my dad," Venus Williams said.
Venus Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam champion and has amassed 49 titles in her illustrious career.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"