Serena Williams sparked controversy after she expressed her disappointment with the use of 'cotton' as a decorative element in a luxury New York City hotel. Fans and media shared their critical reaction to the American tennis legend's actions.In a recent Instagram Story shared by Williams, the 44-year-old was in a luxury hotel in New York to promote the SKIMS-Nike collaboration. She was commenting on a cotton plant used as a decorative item. Williams was heard saying:"How do we feel about cotton as decoration? Personally, for me, it doesn't feel great."In another Story, she was seen using the cotton on her nails before reacting in a seemingly disgusted manner. Watch the video below:The 23-time Grand Slam champion was criticized on social media for these videos. Several X users slammed her for calling out the decor. "Only in clown world can a millionaire athlete cry oppression over hotel décor," one X user wrote."Serena Williams sees a cotton plant... Immediately starts picking it... And now she's mad at the hotel for racist decor 🤣" another user wrote.Many X users also mentioned that Williams' clothes and several other items are all made of cotton."Imagine being worth over $100M and you do this kind of dumb shit for attention... Who wants to tell Serena Williams her hotel bedsheets are made of cotton, her clothes etc," one X user wrote.Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian defends the tennis icon as media outlets point to her own home decor after 'cotton' controversySerena Williams at the NikeSKIMS Launch Event - Source: GettySerena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, came to her defense after media outlets and social media users began highlighting what they saw as a contradiction in her stance on cotton decor. Following her controversial reaction to cotton used as decoration in a New York hotel, several critics pointed to the Monument for a Promise, a sculpture by Radcliffe Bailey, displayed in her home that also incorporates cotton and references its historical context. Accusations of double standards began circulating, but Ohanian swiftly shut down those claims. He shared on X:"Folks entitled to have their opinions, but to use owning Radcliffe Bailey’s Monument for a Promise as some kind of a 'gotchya' is so breathtakingly stupid—there is some very obvious symbolism of the cotton in the artwork."Ohanian also shared a simplified explanation of the sculpture, noting that the cotton in the artwork symbolizes the painful history of slavery and hope for a better future. He used it to clarify that the cotton in the sculpture in Williams' house is part of meaningful historical storytelling, not decoration.