Serena Williams’ Husband Alexis Ohanian Defends Decision to Attend President Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 Event

Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit and husband to tennis legend Serena Williams, was called out for attending President Donald Trump‘s UFC Freedom 250 event in celebration of the president’s 80th birthday.

The father of two defended his decision in a lengthy X post on Wednesday, June 17. “I attended the UFC event via invitation from TKO/IMG leadership (I own 5 pro sports teams + a league),” he explained.

While he did not go into detail about why he did not turn down the invitation, Ohanian, 43 — who shares two daughters with Williams, 44 — the tech boss condemned fighter Josh Hokit‘s “vile and inappropriate” remarks about former First Lady Michelle Obama.

“I was already on my way home when those comments were made and was glad to see Dana [White] condemn them,” he wrote. “For context: I resigned in protest from Reddit (the company I co-founded and built for over a decade) specifically to push it to curb communities for hate and violence on the site.”

Despite his attempt to justify his attendance, followers continued to voice their disappointment in the responses to his tweet.

“There is no way you should have been there, period! So greatly disappointed in you,” one fan wrote.

“You could have declined that invite, despite your relation to the sports world. Not a great look,” another argued.