Nationwide — Sabrina Williams, who is a half-sister of tennis icon Serena Williams, said she is aiming to release a tell-all book about how their father Richard Williams, whose life was recently dramatized in the biopic King Richard, actually abandoned her as a child.
While her sisters Serena and Venus paid tribute to their father through the film, Sabrina said she could not even bring herself to watch it after being told of its narrative. In fact, she is writing a book with a much different story than what the biopic has shown.
“I have 30 pages already written of the book, there’s nothing that’s going to stop me now,” Sabrina told The Sun. “I’m hoping that I can get it all written by June of next year and be able to find a publisher and get it done. I dare anybody to come up and tell me that I’m taking the light away from this movie when, all I’m trying to do, is find good from a deadbeat dad.”
Sabrina, who is now 57-years old, is Richard’s firstborn child from his first marriage to Betty Johnson. They had 4 other children — Richard III, Ronner, Reluss, and Reneeka. Sabrina said her mother struggled to financially provide for them alone when their father left when she was 8-years old.
Richard then got married to Oracene Price and became an active father to Serena and Venus, as well as Price’s 3 daughters from a previous relationship.
“Truth be told, those girls rose to the top while his other children had to suffer because of the choices my dad made, we were raised in poverty after he left,” said Sabrina.
Sabrina said her mental health also suffered and she had been battling an eating disorder.
Now, Sabrina had been criticizing the biopic King Richard, which did not even mention Richard’s first family, and even said actor Will Smith should be ashamed of himself for playing his role in the film. She had been avoiding to see it, too.
“I don’t want any of that, I don’t want to get sad,” she said. “I’ve dealt with those emotions. Why am I going to torment myself by trying to do that, again? I’ve already been tormented in my mind. It’s now just time for me to keep moving. I don’t need to entertain it.”