Political commentator Megyn Kelly has taken aim at Naomi Osaka during this year's Wimbledon Championships.
Osaka turned plenty of heads earlier this week at the All England Club by showing up to Court 3 in a kimono that was inspired by Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill." She then backed up her fashion statement by defeated Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5.
"For me, my Japanese heritage means a lot," Osaka said, via WTA. "They say all white at Wimbledon, and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono. I just get inspired by a lot of different things, and for me, one of my favorite movies is 'Kill Bill.' So I really love Lucy Liu’s character, O-Ren Ishii, and she comes out in this really iconic white kimono. I always tell people I like to be like a video game character sometimes. I don’t want to be myself when I’m playing on the court. And I kind of try to embody her a little."
Even though Osaka's pre-match look was pretty awesome, Kelly claims it made the Japanese superstar come across like a diva. Unfortunately, that's not all she said about the former world No. 1.
"So, what's happening at Wimbledon with these divas is a bit much. OK? Couple years ago, we had Naomi Osaka who couldn't perform. She couldn't be interviewed by the press. She couldn't be asked about why she doesn't play that well on clay because it was these nasty reporters trying to get into her head. Every other reporter could sit for that. Every other reporter got asked about their weaknesses. It's not fun as the journalist to zero in on their strengths. We always go for the place that hurts. That's what we get paid to do. Everyone can take it except for her, and then they change the whole rule where, like, players would now have these mental health rooms to get ready in before they had to go play, and they'd have psychiatric counseling if they needed it, all because of this woman," Kelly said, via Media Matters for America.
"Now she arrives to Wimbledon in some head-to-toe, white kimono trying to look like, I don't know, some sort of a goddess, some sort of a queen. Now she's leaning into her fabulousness, and we're all expected to get on board and celebrate Naomi. Well, it's a no. I don't respect Naomi Osaka at all. She's not tough, she's weak, and only somebody who is would walk in needing that kind of attention as opposed to somebody who lets the game speak for itself. "
© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images.
Kelly wasn't done criticizing Osaka. Prior to this year's French Open, the four-time Grand Slam champion hosted a dinner party for a few Black tennis players. Apparently, that decision didn't sit well with Kelly.
"Naomi Osaka was part of the Black-only dinner party that happened during the French Open. It's just so outrageous. Like, if you and I had a whites-only dinner party, we -- if I was in traditional media, we'd would get fired. You'd get fired from news," Kelly continued. "But you can have a Black-only dinner party because that's a celebration of, you know, I guess, Blackness, which is allowed, but celebrations of whiteness are not. And she was big on the BLM stuff, but you can't ask her questions about clay. And she's shy, and she needs mental health counseling, but she's totally entitled to call all this attention to herself in a head-to-toe, white kimono as she arrives in Wimbledon, and, I guess -- are we allowed to ask about that or not? I'm not clear on the rules on what you can ask Naomi about and what you can't because we're all just living in her world."
Osaka is playing some of the best tennis of her career.
For the first time in her career, Osaka has made it to the second week at Wimbledon. She secured a spot in the Round of 16 by defeating Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 on Friday.
"[I] understand grass-court tennis a lot more," Osaka told reporters. "I think when I was younger, I was a little bit more stubborn on how I wanted to play on this surface, but I realize it's a lot more free-flowing."
Next up for Osaka is a showdown with the No. 1 player on the WTA Tour, Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka has a 3-1 record against Osaka, which includes a straight-sets win at the 2026 French Open.
We'll see if Osaka picks up the biggest win of her career at Wimbledon this Sunday.
