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The BNP Paribas Open announced last Wednesday that Venus Williams, the 44-year-old tennis legend who hasn’t played a competitive match in nearly a year, was awarded a wild card into this year’s tournament.

It turns out that was premature. Or it was true – and suddenly it was no longer true.

During a paid appearance in Denmark on Sunday at an event called “An Evening with Venus Williams”, the entrepreneur reportedly said that this was not, in fact, happening.

There wasn’t any source for this statement, other than a Tweet by a tennis podcast account called “Tennis Weekly Podcast”.

EXCLUSIVE: Venus Williams speaking in Denmark confirms that the story that came out last week that she had accepted a wild card to play singles at Indian Wells is "not true". She is overseas and will not be playing. pic.twitter.com/z0cNQxujcW
— Tennis Weekly Podcast (@tennisweeklypod) February 23, 2025

(Some five hours later, they posted some audio from the conference. Good scoop for them – and absolutely random, as one of their podcasters happened to be attending this Venus meet-and-greet in, of all places, Denmark).

Venus Williams confirms she did not accept the wild card to play Indian Wells:
"I'm not playing. I found out about the wild card when you guys did. Just saying. I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there and if I could have accepted it, I would have been like, yes. But I… pic.twitter.com/y3CXDUKquL
— Tennis Weekly Podcast (@tennisweeklypod) February 23, 2025

Before that, we reached out to the BNP Paribas Open Sunday afternoon to get to the truth of it.

No response.

Only after 9 p.m. Sunday – eight hours after we inquired – did a response come, in the form of an extremely terse Tweet from tournament director Tommy Haas.

A Message From Tournament Director Tommy Haas:

“Our team has been informed that Venus is not accepting the wild card this year. We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her back in Indian Wells in the future.”
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) February 24, 2025

“I found the announcement super-amusing”

In the audio, Williams said she “found the announcement super-amusing”.

“Because, I don’t know, people seemed to be happy. So I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll just go with it. … I’m actually not going. I’m going to be overseas. I’m not going to be here … I found about the wild card when you guys did. Just saying. I would love to be there. If I could have accepted, I would have been, like, ‘Yes’. But I had commitments.”

She said she just had a player texting her, asking her to play doubles.

Something’s not quite kosher

The original announcement of the wild card for Williams was met, in large part, by dismay that the 44-year-old, who has barely played in years, would have a wild card “wasted” on her.

A year ago, she received main-draw wild cards into both Indian Wells and Miami, and lost in the first round both times. To be charitable, she looked somewhat compromised physically even if the competitive fire was the same as it ever was.

The last time Williams got into a tournament with her own ranking was just before the 2021 US Open.

But this wasn’t some Twitter rumour; the tournament itself announced it among its first batch of wild cards for the 2025 event. Which would typically mean that Williams requested one, and it was granted.

The BNP Paribas Open, a hugely popular joint WTA/ATP 1000 event, doesn’t need to announce it’s giving 44-year Venus Williams a wild card to sell a few more seats towards the tail end of the first week. You wouldn’t think.

And the fact that the American wasn’t, actually, going to play in the California desert came out in such random, accidental fashion may mean she might have spilled the beans at her conference in Denmark before she informed the tournament organizers.

Or something. Maybe she asked awhile back, and forgot. Who knows.

At any rate, Venus Williams fans who were looking forward to watching her play again will be disappointed.