Ouch! Looks like Venus Williams might’ve just publicly snubbed Prince Harry!
Last Thursday, the Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan Markle stepped out in LA to attend the 2024 ESPYs, where he was controversially honored with the Pat Tillman Award for his work via the Invictus Games. As Perezcious readers know, Pat’s mom Mary slammed ESPN‘s decision to give the royal the award, and thousands of fans agreed. Ultimately, the backlash didn’t affect anything and Harry still took home the honor.
But now it looks like the professional tennis player might’ve been one of his biggest critics! At the award show, Harry got a standing ovation as he went on stage to accept his award. But looking back, Venus refused to stand (initially) or clap for him!
It was hard to miss her apparent diss considering she was sitting front row right next to the royal couple, too! Look (below):
When cameras weren’t capturing her in a close-up, she did eventually stand up (briefly) with everyone else. Still, it was hard to ignore her lack of enthusiasm! Taking to X (Twitter) to react, eagle-eyed fans claimed Venus had “shaded” the Spare author, writing:
“Are they still b*** hurt that Venus and that whole front row shaded Harry… the video was even crystal clear”
“Loved seeing Venus giving Harry and Megsie the ‘side eye’… no standing ovation or clapping”
“If Venus didn’t agree with Harry getting the award that was her right not to clap”
“Harry must feel the disgust emanating from Venus”
Over on YouTube, others commented:
“Venus Williams has the right attitude”
“VENUS has many new admirers tonight. It was refreshing to see her stay in her seat and not applaud the fraud named Harry. Now Serena needs to wake up. Way to go Venus!!!”
Meanwhile, others on X accused the Archewell founders of being shady right back, claiming they seemed to be “ghosting” Venus! Someone speculated:
“Anyone mentioned how H and M purposefully never acknowledged Venus sitting to Harry’s direct right? They were both ghosting her”
For the record, Access Hollywood caught a video of Harry chatting up Venus at their seats before leaving with Meghan and greeting others in attendance. So, they didn’t completely ghost her, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t awkward between ’em!
BTW, Vensus’ sister Serena — who hosted the sports award show — has been friends with the Suits alum for years. So, if Venus really was dissing them, it makes the dig even more personal! Oof! Thoughts?! Do YOU think she meant to be shady??
