Sports

Serena: Steubenville rape victim was ‘lucky,’ ‘shouldn’t have put herself in ‘that position’

Defendants Trent Mays (left ) and Ma'lik Richmond (center) during the Steubenville rape trial.

Defendants Trent Mays (left ) and Ma’lik Richmond (center) during the Steubenville rape trial. (AP)

Serena Williams is no stranger to controversy, and has caused a stir yet again with a jaw-dropping indictment of the Steubenville rape victim whose story transfixed the nation.

In a Rolling Stone story which Deadspin posted on Tuesday, the world’s No. 1 tennis player commented on the Steubenville rape case after seeing a news story about it.

“Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you—don’t take drinks from other people,” she told the magazine.

“She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”

The two high school football players in Ohio, Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond, were each sentenced to a year in juvenile jail in March for the rape. The players were busted after bragging about the events in an online video.

Williams, who recently won the French Open, and is currently on a 31-match winning streak, has gotten into trouble with her words and actions int he past, including an incident at the 2011 U.S. Open when she was fined for verbally abusing a lineswoman after she was upset with a call.

More recently, she got into a war of words with American tennis player Sloane Stephens after Stephens said that she used to looked up to Williams but refuted claims that she was her mentor, saying WiIliams never reached out to her. Williams then tweeted “I made you”, directed towards the young tennis player.

In the article, she also bashed an unnamed rival of hers saying, “She begins every interview with ‘I’m so happy. I’m so lucky’—it’s so boring. She’s still not going to be invited to the cool parties. And hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it.”

The article has not yet been posted to Rolling Stones website.