Serena and Venus Williams' half-sister Sabrina claims dad Richard used them as 'pawns' to get rich
Richard Williams used daughters Serena and Venus Williams to get rich and they were just "pawns in a chess game", claimed Richard's estranged daughter Sabrina Williams. Sabrina, 57, Richard's eldest daughter from his marriage to late Betty Johnson, said that the former tennis coach made it his number one priority to make Serena and Venus best in the game.
Sabrina Williams, slamming the Oscar-nominated film 'King Richard', said, "I feel [sad] that he was portrayed in the movie King Richard as a great dad and everything. To me, they [Serena and Venus] were pawns for him. It's like a chess game." She continued, "It's whoever he could get to do what he needed to, to get himself money and get rich and be famous, you know, because he's just like a king in his mind, and he's so important." King Richard is a 2021 American biographical drama film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and written by Zach Baylin.
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Richard, 80, married Sabrina's late mother Betty Johnson in Los Angeles in the early sixties and they had four other children - Richard III, Ronner, Reluss, and Reneeka. He dumped his wife and five kids, allegedly walking out of the door to buy Sabrina a bike and never returning. He then went on to marry Serena and Venus's mother Oracene Price. Sabrina in an interview with Sun said that she met her half-siblings only once at Knott's Berry Farm, a theme park in California. She said that when she approached her famous dad, he said he wanted to stay in touch, but the number he gave her didn't work and she felt abandoned all over again.
Referring to the movie 'King Richard', Sabrina said, "I didn't go see the movie. I was told that I wasn't mentioned in the movie. There are some references in King Richard that reference the family. But the true story wasn't told." She continued, "In the movie Gucci, did they tell a backstory, and then they told the whole story, right? Think about Muhammad Ali. Did they tell the backstory? And they told the front story. Even Martin Luther King." Sabrina said that she isn't jealous of Serena and Venus despite the pair achieving fame and fortune after being coached by their father.
Sabrina said, "I wouldn't swap places with Venus and Serena and if I had to do my life all over again from eight years old to 57, I would repeat it. You know why? Because [this is] the person I am today. I've heard people say he [Richard] was pushy. He demanded a lot." Sabrina further said, "I can't imagine, like I never saw that part of my dad because I only had him for basically eight years. But my brother Richard and my brother Ronner they told me, you know, he was always like, just get this done, get this done."
Richard was 'unfaithful'
Speaking about her parent's divorce, she claims Richard was unfaithful and walked out after an argument. "I learned later, my dad was cheating on my mom. I can't quite remember, but he left and never looked back. He said he was gonna get me a bike, but he never came back," claimed Sabrina. "He's like, 'Sabrina' and he hugs me and he gives me a kiss. He left in the car, and that was it. From that moment when my mom told us my dad wasn't coming back, I just started kind of blanked part of that life."
Sabrina continued, "We went from being, in my eyes, a well-to-do family, to basically we're, we're down in the dumps and my mom's trying to help us survive and do anything that she can for us. And my mom really worked hard. My mom was our mom and dad." "I don't know if my mom was aware he was leaving that day. I don't know. I just know that when she told us it was like a couple of days later, just your dad's not coming back and that was it," added Richard Williams' estranged daughter.
"She didn't talk about it anymore. The look on her face, for me it was just this sadness and she was trying to be brave, I didn't ask questions. I don't remember any of my brothers and sisters asking questions," claimed Sabrina. "I felt rejected at first when my mom told me, but then I instantly [thought] that he'd be back, he'll be back, it's my mom is, no, she doesn't understand, she just doesn't get it. He'll be back. That's why I kept saying in my mind."