Alexis Ohanian says he attended UFC Freedom 250 at the White House via invitation from TKO/IMG leadership and was already on his way home when Josh Hokit made a “vile and inappropriate” remark about former first lady Michelle Obama. His explanation has drawn b
Alexis Ohanian left a social media trail that starts with a White House UFC event and ends with a simple line he says should change how people judge him.
Ohanian. the husband of tennis star Serena Williams. said he was “on my way home” when UFC fighter Josh Hokit gave an interview that included a comment about former first lady Michelle Obama that Ohanian called “vile and inappropriate.” He raised the issue publicly Wednesday night across X and other social media platforms. after a wave of criticism followed his attendance at President Donald Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 event. held Sunday at the White House.
In his post, Ohanian also offered the explanation for why he made an appearance in the first place. “I attended the UFC event via invitation from TKO/IMG leadership (I own 5 pro sports teams + a league),” he wrote. He added that he was glad to see UFC CEO Dana White condemn the remark.
The criticism didn’t stop at the slur itself. It moved to the question of optics—and whether Ohanian’s presence made his condemnation less meaningful. As of Thursday morning, his Wednesday post had drawn a flood of negative responses on X, with commenters challenging his reasoning.
One person wrote, “You shouldn’t have been there. You’re an epic disappointment.” Another went further, saying that “with a dynamic and conscious Black wife and Black children being harmed by this administration, you put your cronies over your family AND this country. Shame on you.”
Others focused on the fact that invitation or timing didn’t erase participation. “Just because you were invited doesn’t mean you had to go. ‘I was in the car when the hateful thing was said’ doesn’t negate the fact that you were there in the first place,” one critic wrote.
Ohanian’s defense also tied his stance on online communities to his personal history with technology. He wrote that Reddit wouldn’t exist if ICE had come for his mother. adding that her immigration story—she “overstayed an au pair visa for years before marrying my dad. a U.S. citizen”—is deeply personal to him. He said. “For context: I resigned in protest from Reddit (the company I co-founded and built for over a decade) specifically to push it to curb communities for hate and violence on the site.”.
Ohanian and Williams have been married since 2017, and they share two daughters: Olympia, 8, and Adira, 2.
He has not appeared to make public endorsements in recent elections, but he has criticized Trump before, including in October when he spoke out against the president’s stance on immigration. That past criticism has surfaced again as people weigh how to interpret his decision to attend Freedom 250.
The event itself drew prominent names beyond Ohanian. It was attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, podcaster Joe Rogan and comedian Nate Bargatze, among others. The appearance of high-profile figures—along with the remark that prompted Dana White’s condemnation—has left the weekend with a familiar kind of political discomfort: not just disagreement about politics. but disagreement about whether staying away was possible.
Ohanian isn’t the only celebrity tied to the event who has been asked to explain themselves. On Monday, a representative for Bargatze told HuffPost in an email that the comedian has “fans from both sides of the aisle” and that he simply wanted “to enjoy a sport he loves.”
The representative added that Bargatze is “family friendly entertainment first,” saying he “is not political nor is anything he produces.” The rep also emphasized that Bargatze is “a huge UFC fan and has been since before it became political.”
For Ohanian, the dispute now circles back to the sentence he used as his anchor: he says he was leaving when the comment was made, and he says his appearance didn’t mean he was endorsing the content that followed.
But the responses piling up on his post show that many readers aren’t treating timing as a full answer. The argument isn’t only about whether the remark occurred—Ohanian called it unacceptable—but about what it means to be in the same room when it did. and what responsibility follows even when the worst words are spoken just as someone is trying to leave.
Alexis Ohanian Serena Williams UFC Freedom 250 White House Donald Trump Josh Hokit Michelle Obama Dana White TKO/IMG Mark Zuckerberg Joe Rogan Nate Bargatze