Serena Williams Criticizes New York Hotel for Insensitive Cotton Plant Display: A Historical Context

She describes it as feeling like "nail polish remover cotton" before touching it.

Tennis icon Serena Williams has expressed criticism towards a New York City hotel for its cotton plant decoration displayed in the hallway.

Through an Instagram story, Williams showcased a vase containing a cotton plant on a table and solicited opinions from her followers regarding the display, asking, "Alright, everyone. How do we feel about cotton as decoration?"

The 44-year-old athlete added, "Personally, for me, it doesn't feel great." As an African-American, Williams' discomfort appears connected to cotton's historical significance in America, where enslaved Black individuals were compelled to harvest cotton under severe conditions.

According to historical records, approximately 95 percent of the African American population in the United States was enslaved in 1820. The proliferation of cotton plantations contributed significantly to the dramatic increase in slavery.

Williams, who was in New York supporting the launch of a collaboration between Kim Kardashian's Skims brand and Nike, shared another story where she held a piece of cotton from the hotel decoration while speaking to the camera.

In the video, she compares the texture to "nail polish remover cotton" before physically touching it, visibly cringing, and moving out of frame. After removing one of the cotton balls from the stem and rubbing it across her fingernail, she shuddered and remarked, "So actually, it feels like nail polish remover cotton... unnatural."

Recently, Williams encountered online criticism for her partnership with Ro, a company that produces GLP-1 medications used for weight management, according to Page Six.

This incident isn't the first time Williams has publicly criticized a hotel establishment. In 2024, she made headlines after calling out the five-star Peninsula Paris hotel when she and her children were refused seating at its rooftop restaurant, as reported by US Weekly.

The hotel subsequently issued an apology, explaining that the rooftop was completely reserved and that the tables Williams believed were available actually belonged to a different dining section.