Venus and Serena Williams let ABC News journalists Maiken Baird and Michelle Major follow them around long enough to amass a reported 450 hours of footage. It was all for a documentary "Venus and Serena," which premiered last week at the Toronto Film Festival. Venus and Serena decided to skip the whole thing amid reports that they're upset with Baird and Major over films depiction of their pops Richard. The Los Angeles Times reported that the doc " explores many of father Richard Williams' foibles — including his out-of-wedlock children, his penchant for interrupting his daughters' interviewer from off-camera and a 78-page manifesto in which he plotted out the careers of his daughters when they were in elementary school."
Here's my thing, though. Every time you read anything about Pops Williams, he's typically referred to as an "eccentric." You always regularly hear about the fact that the Williams sisters are very private. So, why would you grant unfettered access to two journalists if you know that there might be some family issues/circumstances that you'd like to keep private or that could be misinterpreted? Baird and Major had no intention of making a Venus and Serena propoganda film. Seems like a curious decision on the Sisters' part.
