Serena Williams and Venus Williams were among a swarm of A-listers who partied during night two of American Express Presents Carbone Beach in Miami on Friday. An insider tells Page Six exclusively that the tennis champions “just showed up” at the dinner party’s “Second Course” soirée in partnership with The h.wood Group and Sports Illustrated.
“They ended up being snuck in through the back door,” the insider says, adding that four extra tables had to be added to accommodate more guests. The evening’s surprise performer, Wyclef Jean, spotted Venus, 41, and gave her a shout-out before greeting her with a big hug.
We hear Serena, 40, also helped fellow tennis star Genie Bouchard get into the VIP party. “Venus and Serena were basically hanging all night,” the source says. “They got there at 11 and came out ’til the party was over past 1 a.m.”
At one point, Serena was seen giving chef Mario Carbone a big hug. The Williams sisters weren’t the only A-listers at the exclusive bash, which sold tickets for $3,000 a seat. LeBron James and Rich Paul were spotted laughing it up with James Corden, while David Beckham, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union tore up the dance floor until the lights came on. We’re told James, 37, was later spotted at LIV nightclub celebrating Meek Mill’s 35th birthday along with Kyle Kuzma.
Meanwhile, we also hear Derek Jeter and his wife, Hannah Jeter, were “as nice as can be” as they danced at their table, where Major Food Group co-founder and owner Jeff Zalaznick was also seated.
“They both were up dancing,” the source says of the Jeters. “[Hannah] was up. He was talking to Beckham.
“Nobody wanted to leave. Everybody was just hanging with each other,” the insider adds.
As Page Six exclusively reported, James was also spotted hitting Carbone Beach after midnight for night one of the four-night party celebrating the Miami Grand Prix. He schmoozed by the bar with his sports agent Paul as well as Kevin Love, Stephen Ross and Maverick Carter.
Serena Williams opens up about daughter Olympia’s tennis prospects and says she didn’t reveal who she was when hiring a coach for her four-year-old
Serena Williams, appearing on Monday’s edition of Ellen, opens up about how she’s guiding her four-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. to play tennis – but not too aggressively.
‘I love her so much,’ the 40-year-old tennis icon said of her child with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, 39, after which she was asked by Ellen DeGeneres how Olympia is at tennis.
Olympia has shown potential, Williams said, but will need more work in honing her skills ‘if she wants to play tennis.’
She continued: ‘But I don’t push her, I don’t push her because she’s four … she’s alright, I’ve seen four-year-olds that might take her out’ on the court.
Williams said that Olympia’s ‘ambition is playing princess games, [as] she loves princess games and the more we can play anything with princesses, that’s her whole life.’
Williams told DeGeneres that she recently hired a tennis coach for Olympia, but did not reveal who she was to the coach.
‘This is such a funny story, because … I don’t have the patience to teach tennis, it’s so weird but I don’t really like to play with people who don’t know how to play tennis well – so it drives me nuts – so I was like, “I can’t I don’t have the patience for this,”‘ she said. ‘So I signed her up for a class, a private teacher, so she came in, I didn’t wanna tell her.’
Williams said that she revealed that on her Instagram account – which has more than 14.6 million followers – that she had signed up her daughter for a tennis class, and that the coach was one of her followers, and figured out that she was in the running for the job.
The Compton, California, native credited her father Richard Williams, 80, for his tutelage in making she and her sister Venus, 41, standouts in the sport, saying it makes him ‘so amazing because [she] couldn’t have done that.’
She said that the film King Richard – for which Will Smith won the Best Actor for playing the Williams patriarch – presented an accurate depiction of the effort and focus it takes to succeed in the sport.
‘It takes a lot of work and that’s what I really loved about the movie, is the fact that you know so much about us, just as players and holding up championships and holding up trophies, but there’s so much more that goes into that,’ she said. ‘It’s everyday, it’s hard work and so much dedication from my parents, both my mom and my dad.’
She said of King Richard: ‘The film was amazing, it was so cool to see the whole process come together, it took a really long time and got shut down for COVID and I was so proud of everyone and how everything came together and yeah, it was a wonderful moment, I think the film will live on for a really long time.’
Ellen added, ‘For sure it will, it’s a beautiful film and you should be proud of it.’
