Everyone knows the story of how Serena Williams and Venus Williams achieved the status of absolute legends in tennis. But the man who got them there is relatively lesser known. To honor Richard Williams’ legacy, several pieces of media touch on the time he spent working with his daughters. However, nothing has covered his life as thoroughly as his son’s documentary, On The Line: The Richard Williams Story.

King Richard was a prominent piece of media that was made about his life. The movie hit mainstream popularity as Will Smith nailed his performance as Richard Williams. Not only Smith but also the rest of the cast and crew did a phenomenal job telling the story. King Richard was nominated for five awards at the 2022 Academy Awards, which helped Smith win his first Oscar. But it begs the question – 

Then why did Serena Williams’ half-brother want to produce the documentary?

Serena and Venus Williams were executive producers for King Richard. However, Richard himself had little to no involvement in the making of the movie. Hence, he decided to share an unfiltered and unadulterated story of his life in the documentary made by his son, Chavoita LeSane. Additionally, LeSane decided to make a documentary following Smith’s controversy at the 2022 Academy Awards.

After Smith slapped Chris Rock, he said, “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.” 

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LeSane did not resonate with the comments and found himself angered. He said, “My dad is not a violent man unless, you know, someone is coming at him in an aggressive manner.” Aside from the Academy Awards debacle, LeSane also said that he wanted the story to come straight from his father.

While Richard Williams has not explicitly stated that he was ‘unhappy’ with the movie on that has his name but tells the story of his daughters, his son wants more media to represent the actual story.

As per him, the documentary tells the story in a realistic manner. “A lot of great people that participated in this documentary, it really captures my dad’s voice and it was important to me for it not to be a Venus and Serena documentary,” he told The Sun in 2023.

LeSane and Williams on the “madness” that created the Williams sisters

In a 2023 interview, LeSane dived into the fact that the documentary was not based on Venus and Serena Williams, as the movie also focused on the two heavily. “They grew up in front of the cameras. But I feel like the world doesn’t know the Richard Williams story. Like who created them, what was the thinking, what madness?” For LeSane, the focal point of the documentary was his father, who took his daughters to number 1 and number 2 in a sport that was historically racist against people of color.

Before tennis, Richard had a deep love of golf, which brought about the unfortunate attention of the KKK. “Growing up in Shreveport, wanting to be a golfer, going out to golf in the early morning, then having to deal with the KKK just because he took a liking to golf clubs and golf balls. So those are the stories I want to stand out now.” 

The movie resonated with the fans heavily as it currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. LeSane succeeded in telling his father’s story as he asked several legends to come forth and share their experience with Richard.

You can compare the differences between the documentary as King Richard has finally arrived on Netflix. Make sure not to miss Will Smith’s Oscar-winning performance!