Reddit Founder Logs On To Defend His Wife Serena Williams, Wrestles With His Own Creation

Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian has been steadily posting online in support of his wife, Serena Williams, after her well-documented spat with an umpire in the U.S. Open final. One recent tweet by Ohanian called attention to an infamous Roger Federer outburst at the 2009 U.S. Open final, drawing an implicit comparison to how Williams was treated after her own outburst.

That tweet made its way to a thread on Reddit itself, specifically one in the tennis subreddit, titled “I can’t believe this guy is dragging this story out more. Is he a moron?” The discussion below predictably took a sour, anti-Ohanian turn. Into this hostile environment Ohanian himself courageously leapt, under his own handle “ kn0thing.” And then Ohanian was caught up in the same kind of watery and bleak exchanges that characterize his platform and, well, every other anonymous internet discussion.

To someone who pointed out the irony of bashing Ohanian on Reddit itself, Ohanian wrote:

That’ll show him!

To a tennis fan who apparently also liked to post nude images on NSFW subreddits, Ohanian wrote:

Sometimes I check out the profile of commenters like you to better understand your motivations and POV.

Not what I expected.

But I’m happy you’ve found communities you can connect with.

To someone who wrote that “leddit founder is a confirmed soy boy of the highest degree,” Ohanian wrote:

Do you even lift?

Elsewhere, Ohanian can be found making heavily downvoted claims about bias in officiating. One has to wonder if he regrets what he hath wrought.

h/t Alex

Correction (5:38 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this post identified Alexis Ohanian as Reddit’s co-founder and executive chairman, but he is actually a co-founder and board member. The post has been amended.