Last week, Serena Williams drew the ire of many when she made an insensitive remark about the victim’s role in the Steubenville (Ohio) High School rape case during an interview with Rolling Stone.
Then Williams doubled up on the public outrage with a controversial half-apology that essentially passed the blame for the remarks to Stephen Rodrick, the journalist who wrote the feature on Williams for the magazine.
Still facing backlash for her handing of the situation, Williams released a follow-up statement to her website Monday, on the eve of her first-round matchup with Mandy Minella at Wimbledon, and this one sounds more like the apology most expected her to offer in the first place.
The statement reads:
“I am deeply sorry for my insensitive and misinformed comments. It was not my intention to cause the victim and her family any additional pain. But I did, and I am sorry. I am grateful to them for the opportunity to personally apologize, and I am humbled by their strength, grace, and forgiveness.
“I also want to extend an apology to the millions of sexual assault victims in America whose pain could have been compounded by my inappropriate remarks. Rape and all forms of sexual assault are completely unacceptable, no matter the circumstances. Sexual assault perpetrated against women and men is never acceptable and *never* the fault of the victim.”
In addition to Monday’s statement, Williams also issued a second apology Sunday, during her pre-Wimbledon news conference, telling reporters:
“I apologize for everything that was said in that article. I feel like you say things without having all the information. It’s really important before you make certain comments to have a full list, have all the information, all the facts. I reached out to the family [of the Steubenville rape victim] immediately once the article came out, and I had a really productive, sincere conversation with the mother and the daughter. We came to a wonderful understanding, and we’re constantly in contact.”
