Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian had a refreshingly sincere discussion.
The couple required to Instagram Live on Saturday night to openly go over Alexis’ current resignation from Reddit, the inequality Serena has actually dealt with and more.
“When I thought about what Reddit needs, what business needed now more than ever was someone that had a position of power to say, ‘There are too many white faces around the table, there have been for too long…,” the Reddit co-creator stated on his other half’s weekly Serena Saturday’s IG Live sessions. “What are the things that I can do beyond donations.'”
He continued, “I have been so heartened by messages I have received from total strangers in business, in particular a number of Black men and women who found my email, or through a friend sent me a note, saying how much they appreciated the gesture simply because of all the rooms, all the board rooms, all the executive rooms they have walked into, where they have realized they have had to prove themselves.”
Alexis more discussed his current choice to step back from the business he co-founded in 2005.
“I really meant it when I said I think resignation can be an act of leadership and I know this puts Reddit in the best position possible,” he shared. “I think if every company took a look around their board rooms on Monday and really had the honest, hard conversations, and said, ‘Are we doing the best by our customers, by our team and by our shareholders with this board makeup?’ I think we’d see more change.”
Serena revealed how happy she was of her hubby, and kept in mind that he resigned from the business all on his own. If anything, she mentioned that Alexis’ choice to step down was “definitely shocking to me.”
“This is all Alexis, which is really cool,” the tennis icon stated. “A lot of people may think that I told you to do something, or that I forced you, or that I was in your ear… he doesn’t listen to me ever! So that’s not the case.”
Serena likewise kept in mind the “many different challenges” she’s needed to deal with in her life as a Black lady.
“A lot of people don’t know, my whole life I’ve had to deal with so many different challenges. I’ve had to deal with a lot of inequality, I’ve had to deal with racism,” she stated. “Honestly, sadly, it has become… somewhat of a norm for me.”
“It’s unfortunate that somebody on my level has actually needed to accept being paid less [and] accept a lot of various things due to the fact that of the color of my skin,” she included. “I think I’d be very angry, very spiteful, very jealous if I didn’t have this spiritual background.”
The Reddit co-founder likewise went over the discussions he and Serena will ultimately have with their 2-year-old child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
“One of the things that really broke me at some point in the last week, was looking at Olympia and she is such a pure blank canvas. She only knows love,” Alexis stated. “There is not an ounce of hate in her body.”
“You know that at some point, Olympia is gonna have a talk with you, a talk with us, but especially a talk with you about how she’s gonna have to work that much harder, how she’s gonna have to deal with this much more…,” he informed Serena. “That pisses me off.”
When revealing his resignation on June, he likewise mentioned his child and wishing to set a fine example for her.
“I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks, ‘What did you do?'” he mentioned. “So, I have resigned as a member of the Reddit board. I have urged them to fill my seat with a Black candidate, and I will use future gains on my Reddit stock to serve the Black community, chiefly to curb racial hate.”
Watch the IG Live with Serena and Alexis in the video above.
