Naomi Osaka isn’t apologizing for celebrating Black tennis players.
On the eve of the French Open, the 28-year-old tennis champion joined American player Taylor Townsend to celebrate Black tennis players competing in the tournament at a special dinner dubbed the “Black Party (Roland Garros ‘RG’ Edition),” held at SoHo House Paris.
“My first time ever co-hosting a dinner/party, and let me tell you, no better company to share time with,” she captioned a carousel of footage from the evening.
Based on the clips and photos she shared on Instagram, attendees included Coco Gauff, Gaël Monfils, Asia Muhammad, and Chris Eubanks, all of whom appeared to be having a wonderful time, flashing bright smiles throughout the night. Alongside the photos, Osaka included a clip of Issa Rae famously saying, “I’m rooting for everybody Black,” as well as a slide featuring a heartfelt message.
“Growing up, there weren’t a lot of tennis players I could look up to that looked like me,” Osaka wrote. “Being a minority in a sport like tennis is very isolating, but the positive is that you keep tabs on everyone that — being blunt — is Black.”
She continued, “There’s a fellowship, a camaraderie that doesn’t need words to describe. You just feel at peace knowing that there’s another person who has experienced similar things to you, and you feel less alone. There’s a saying, ‘When you win, I feel like I win, too,’ and while that’s true, I also feel like seeing any of us exist in this space that is so clearly not for us is a win in itself.”
She added, “Our presence is a present, and I’m so grateful for the gift of my peers. I want to thank them for existing and thank them for inspiring. I am so proud, and I appreciate everyone who came to the dinner.”
And honestly, that should have been the whole story: a thoughtful evening meant to foster community among Black professional players, the kind of curated dinner or gathering that happens all the time in elite spaces. But once footage of the event — full of Black joy, excellence, and camaraderie — spread across social media, the internet quickly spiraled.
“Ironically white people are bullied into ‘diversity’ ALLLL the damn time. Black people never ever are,” one user on X wrote under a post about the event.
Another user on the same platform wrote, “There is a difference between going to dinner with your close friends and purposefully and intentionally inviting colleagues based on race.”
However the conversation has quickly shifted as many others have begun speaking out in defense about how this event was not about who wasn’t invited but instead about making room for connection among Black players often left to navigate one of the whitest and most elite sports alone—in a space where they are often pitted against one another, especially at a time when DEI and intentional spaces for people of color continue to be attacked.
“One thing that the Melanin Deficient love most is the Exclusion of Black Folks, but what they hate even more than that is our joy and peace in their absence,” a user on Threads began. “Seeing us in Community and in spaces we create for ourselves somehow manages to activate their Demons. Why? Because Black Love and Unity is something they can’t control though they try with all their might to break it. These Black Elite athletes are in a RARE sorority/fraternity and that’s a bond that only they can intimately understand.”
Over on X, a user wrote, “Like I keep saying– No matter what we do, no matter how we do it, MF just can’t leave black folk alone!! Imagine MF being mad that black people do their own thing, but everyone seems to have a problem with it! While being sh-tted on by half the world for just being black!! Ya’ll MF love to have it both ways! So, when you tell us to stay away from you and we do, it’s a problem! But when we show up at your events, it’s a problem!!”
Others weighing in have also noted that these types of dinners and luncheons shouldn’t be novel to anyone, as Black folks have been gathering amongst ourselves during larger events. It’s long been a way to establish lifelines with others in your industry or field who may be navigating many of the same barriers, and to feel more grounded.
In a post defending her decision to host Black tennis players, Osaka noted the significance of these spaces even after all this time in sports.
“You know I’m seeing a little bit of- ‘Why can’t you love everyone for all skin tones?’ and ‘what if someone had an all white party?! First of all I do love everyone for who they are no matter their race + ethnicity, (I’m literally half Japanese lol). I can only speak from my experiences in my own life though, growing up as a tennis player I didn’t see many people that looked like ME and I feel like it’s important to celebrate them,” Osaka began in a post on Threads defending the event.
She added that there have been plenty of all-white dinners and parties.
“I don’t know how else to tell you this, I literally seen them all the time and never had an issue with it at all. To the people who ask this question I want to ask you this question too, ‘What is it about POC getting together that unsettles you so much?’”
“I want to end this by saying I grew up watching my dad get discriminated against, having the cops called on him multiple times at the tennis court. There are multiple things I will apologize for in my life but celebrating being black and appreciating who we are will never be something I would consider saying sorry for,” she continued. “Actually I lied, I am sorry. I’m sorry for the people who cannot comprehend in their brains that this is not about exclusion, this is a celebration about how far we have come.”
Like a punctuation mark on the whole Blackity-Black dinner, the player arrived at Roland Garros on Tuesday, May 26, in keeping with her tradition of highly conceptualized looks, wearing a custom head-to-toe all-Black ensemble by couturier Kevin Germanier. The outfit, an absolute stunner, featured a sleeveless beaded corset that gave way to a floor-length pleated skirt, which she dramatically shed on the court to reveal a sparkling bronze Nike minidress underneath.
