The war between the United States Tennis Association and a movie about Venus and Serena Williams is ready to escalate tonight at the film’s UK premiere, just before Wimbledon.
Sources tell Page Six that filmmakers Maiken Baird and Michelle Major — who are being sued by the USTA to block the doc’s release — are planning to use their introduction to the film at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema to slam the USTA.
Sources close to the project say the directors will detail how Serena wanted them to use footage of her infamous outburst at the 2009 US Open, which the USTA has deemed “not in the best interest of the sport” in its suit, and what they see as the USTA’s “censorship efforts.”
“Serena wanted [the footage] in the film,” said a source. “She knows this is part of her life.” (The clip shows her telling a US Open ref she’ll shove a tennis ball down the official’s throat.)
But a USTA source says the real issue is that the doc includes “20 minutes of match play” which the filmmakers were not allowed to use, adding, “This is matter of intellectual property rights.”
The USTA filed a federal case on Friday, seeking a permanent injunction against “Venus and Serena,” claiming copyright infringement. Oscar-winning producer Alex Gibney shot back yesterday, “The USTA is assaulting the very principle of free speech” and that the tennis footage falls under “fair use.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Wimbledon kicks off Monday, and the film’s set to debut on Showtime July 1. A source close to the case said the USTA decided not to file its suit during the recent French Open, in which Serena was playing, as a courtesy. Serena, who won’t attend tonight’s UK premiere, was practicing in England yesterday.
The film’s rep Davidson Goldin told us, “The USTA is learning the hard way that bullying top filmmakers by trying to rewrite history is bad for business, unfair to fans and disrespectful of their stars.” A rep for the USTA shot back: “The allegation of censorship is horse[bleep]. This is about intellectual property rights, pure and simple.”
A rep for Serena declined to comment.