Serena Williams to Receive Honor at NAACP Image Awards

Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US reacts during her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US reacts during her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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Serena Williams to Receive Honor at NAACP Image Awards

Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US reacts during her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Tennis - US Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 2, 2022 Serena Williams of the US reacts during her third round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Serena Williams will be honored for her tennis achievements, business success and efforts to uplift the community at the NAACP Image Awards this weekend.

The NAACP announced Thursday that Williams will receive the Jackie Robinson Sports award during the ceremony, which will air live Saturday on BET.

The award recognizes individuals in sports for high achievement in athletics along with their pursuit of social justice, civil rights and community involvement.
Previous honorees include Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson, Wilma Rudolph and the Harlem Globetrotters.

“From her record-breaking wins on the tennis court to her business acumen to her philanthropic endeavors, she has set the bar for athletes everywhere,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. The Associated Press quoted him as saying that Williams is the “quintessential example of Black excellence.”

Williams is regarded as one of the sports greatest athletes of all time. She holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles. She has won Wimbledon seven times as a singles competitor.

Outside of tennis, Williams was as an executive producer on the Oscar-nominated film “King Richard,” a biopic based on her family. She launched her own venture capital firm and fashion brand that focuses on female empowerment. She recently published a children’s book, “The Adventures of Qai Qai,” and teamed with two veterans to launch a cruelty-free topical pain relief and daily muscle care solutions designed to reimagine recovery.

Queen Latifah will host the 54th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California. The ceremony honors entertainers, athletes and writers of colors.



Just Frustration: Piastri Explains Radio Cursing at Alpine

Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
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Just Frustration: Piastri Explains Radio Cursing at Alpine

Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)

McLaren's Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri said cursing at former employers Alpine over the radio at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix was just a humorous way of expressing his frustration.

The Australian made a comment after having to go off track to avoid Renault-owned Alpine's Argentine driver Franco Colapinto.

"Alpine still managed to find a way to (expletive) me over all these years later, huh?," he told race engineer Tom Stallard in an exchange not broadcast on television at the time.

Piastri told Reuters at a McLaren fan event in London's Trafalgar Square on Wednesday that his swearing had just been spur of the moment.

"It was just kind of a frustrating coincidence. My qualifying got hampered by an Alpine. I got impeded in the race by both the Alpines. So, it was kind of just a build-up of a few things," he said. "And it was more out of frustration.

"I still have a lot of friends at Alpine. A lot of people that I respect a lot.

"It was just kind of an ironic coincidence that the things that hampered me a bit in the weekend were all with Alpine. But, yeah -- more just me trying to express my humor and frustration in the race."

Piastri joined McLaren after being named by Alpine as their driver for 2023, only for the Australian to very publicly reject the seat with a statement that has become part of Formula One lore.

Then Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer questioned the driver's integrity, and threatened legal action, but McLaren won easily when the matter went to the contract recognition board.

Alpine are now last in the championship, and are still going through turmoil, while McLaren won the constructors' title last year and are runaway favorites again.