Serena Williams Left Uncomfortable With NYC Hotel’s Cotton Plant Decoration

Serena Williams has spoken of her discomfort after she spotted a cotton plant in a New York City hotel.

The retired tennis star was in the Big Apple on Thursday after promoting Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS/Nike launch the day prior.

The 43-year-old recorded her walk down the hallway of an undisclosed hotel and spotted a table with a vase of cotton plants.

Williams said in the video, which was posted to her Instagram story: ‘How do we feel about cotton as decoration? Personally, for me, it doesn’t feel great.’

She then picked one of the balls off the plant and rubbed it around her fingers before shuddering and putting it back down.

Cotton’s history in the United States is tied to the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Fans shared their own opinions about the plant and Williams’s reaction. Some mocked her for what they believed to be faux-outrage or race-baiting.

‘Wait until she finds out Skims uses cotton in some of their clothing,’ read one comment on X.

Another user wrote: ‘It kinda looks nice to me. Nobody told her to pick it!’

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