
File this under, âOh, hell noâ: While interviewing Serena Williams on Saturday for Inside Tennis, the magazineâs publisher and editor, Bill Simons, showed his ass a seriously sexist streak. During the conversation, Simons first called the ĂŒber-athlete âbaby,â and then added insult to all-too-familiar injury when he asked Williams if she agreed with Donald Trumpâs idiocy unasked-for analysis that the 23-time grand-slam champion might have been âintimidatedâ by rival Maria Sharapovaâs âsupermodel good looks.â
*Outrage break.*
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As reported by Today, the awkwardness began when Simons felt so entitled to the tennis starâs time as to say, âI know you want to get back to [your daughter] Olympia; work with me here, please.â
Playing the good sport, Williams smiled and said, âWork with me.â (Emphasis mine.)
âWeâre in this together, baby,â Simons said. (Umm ... come again?)
Williams kept her cool, replying, âNo, weâre notâyouâre not going home to a screaming baby.â
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(Say that, Serena.)
Undeterred and clearly either oblivious or deliberately obtuse, Simons (who notably features a photo of himself with Serena as his Twitter avi) then said:
I have been waiting about 14 years to ask you this question: After the 2004 Wimbledon match with Maria, I had the opportunity to interview Donald Trump on his L.A. golf course, and he said that Mariaâs shoulders were incredibly alluring and then he came up with his incredible analysis: that you were intimidated by her supermodel good looks. My question is: Have you ever been intimidated by anyone on a tennis court, and what are your thoughts about that occurrence?
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Being a far more graceful human being than I can ever hope to be in this lifetime, Williams simply said: âI honestly donât have any thoughts about that. I canât say I have been intimated by anyone. Thatâs all. Thatâs it.â
(Thatâs it, Bill.)
Thankfully, not all male writers are complete troglodytes; several indicted Simonsâ horrible line of questioning, including Andrew Bucholtz, who wrote on the sports blog Awful Announcing:
Suggesting that a top female athlete would be intimidated by another athleteâs looks is insane and sexist, and repeating someone elseâs insane and sexist suggestion to the subject of it isnât much better than making that suggestion yourself.
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Uhh, ya think?
Jeff Donaldson, social media coordinator for Tennis Canada, concurred, declaring the encounter truly cringeworthy.
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Simons clearly got the message, tweeting an apology Sunday for his âawkward [question]â that âseemed [to] empower Trump or attack Serena.â Simons also expressed his admiration for the tennis star (as he should), and made sure to let us all know that heâs âspent [a] lifetime fighting racism/sexism/homophobia.â
OK, Bill. Good to know.
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Unfortunately, we wonât get to see exactly how unintimidated Williams is by Sharapova (or anyone else) during the remainder of the French Open, since a pectoral injury forced the phenom to pull out of competition Monday shortly before she was due to face off with Sharapova. But no doubt weâll all get a healthy reminder soon. Iâm sure Bill Simons will be watching.