Serena Williams: Serving a Powerful Comeback

June 21st, 2011    Posted in Sexual Harassment News

In the shadow of the Twitter Pic controversy, Serena Williams made an emotional comeback, moving her fans to tears at Wimbledon.

 

Stalking the Stalker

It was a Tuesday afternoon and the sun shone brilliantly. It was a comeback chartered for someone special. About 49 weeks after she was forced to stay away from the playing field, suffering injuries and considering it a near-death experience, Serena Williams was back with aplomb. She stumbled on the field a couple of times but she made sure she took her third Wimbledon trophy home. Although, the tennis star was not exactly missing from the headlines over the last few months; in May, with the help of top sexual harassment lawyers, she had had her Twitter stalker arrested in Florida.

Know who You Are

The 40-year-old Patenema Ouedraogo, was arrested outside Serena Williams’ home and was charged with cyberstalking and stalking. It is said that he tracked Serena’s movements on Twitter and followed her wherever she went. From her dressing room at the Home Shopping Network to her home in Florida to the tennis courts, Patenema kept a close watch on the tennis star, thanks to her regular tweets. The celebrity player’s sexual harassment lawyers ensured that the stalker absorbed Serena’s message: “stay away.” Patenema was jailed and threatened with house arrest. Although, in a few weeks time, Serena made a terrible PR move. She posted a picture of herself in her underwear, shot behind a sheer curtain on Twitter! She must think she is Anna Kournikova or Maria Sharapova.

 

Not Intentional

Fans and critics came down pretty hard on Serena. Not just about the implied hypocrisy of her move but also by those who noticed that the picture resembled the images and the video of that of ESPN’s Erin Andrews, which had been shot without her consent. The video shows Erin in her underwear, styling her hair in front of the mirror. Needless to say, she dialed her sexual harassment lawyers pronto!