Venus Williams Started Crying When Asked To Comment On “Devastating” Car Crash

While pregnant sibling, Serena Williams, is running through drills daydreaming of Wimbledon, Venus Williams is probably wishing they could switch places. Well at the very least she probably hoped that much during the interview conducted today (July 3).

ESPN’s Brandon Radcliffe posted a clip of Williams’ response to the question regarding her June vehicular accident on Twitter in which she was unable to bring herself to complete her response.

“Yeah, I’m… completely speechless and it’s just… Yeah, I mean, I’m just…,” the tennis all-star brokenly responds.

As the Grand Slam title holder wipes away tears, the video ends after the moderator, seated to the left of her, admits that she’s unable to speak on the incident and requests that the reporters, “respect her wishes.” It is reported that she briefly left the podium and returned to answer other questions.

In the accident that occurred on June 9, Jerome Barson died. His wife, Linda Barson, was the driver and only suffered moderate injuries. While witnesses attest that Williams ran a red light, crashing into the Barsons’ vehicle, the official Palm Beach Gardens police report sides with the witnesses identifying Williams’ fault in the accident. Williams left the scene uninjured, the report confirms that she was not under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, and she has yet to be issued a citation or traffic violation.

While the family of the deceased 78-year-old Barson is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the athlete, Williams’ lawyer remains unwavering in his stance on her innocence. See statements from both lawyers below.

Michael Steinger, Barson family’s attorney: “Mrs. Barson is suffering intense grief and doesn’t know how she will go on. Her husband of 35 years was struck by Venus Williams who was at fault in a car accident, which ultimately resulted in Mr. Barson being hospitalized 14 days with multiple surgeries which resulted in his death.”

Malcolm Cunningham, Williams’ attorney: “Ms. Williams entered the intersection on a green light. The police report estimates that Ms. Williams was traveling at 5 mph when Mrs. Barson crashed into her. Authorities did not issue Ms. Williams with any citations or traffic violations. This is an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”

Williams reigned supreme over Elise Mertens with a 7-6 (7), 6-4 win in her 20th Wimbledon competition and faces Wang Qiang on Wednesday (July 5).

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