Serena Williams Slams French Taxes: 'Seventy-Five Percent Doesn't Seem Legal'

June 18th, 2013 11:09 PM

French actor Gerard Depardieu made international headlines earlier this year when he left France due to that country's exorbitantly high tax rates.

American tennis star Serena Williams apparently agrees with Depardieu telling Rolling Stone magazine, "Seventy-five percent doesn't seem legal."

Despite having homes in Florida and California, Williams has spent most of the last eighteen months in Paris.

"I lost in the first round in the French Open last year, and I just decided to stay," she told Rolling Stone.

Even though she's still an American citizen, Williams opposes France's income tax rates.

"Seventy-five percent doesn't seem legal," she said. "Nobody does anything because the government pays you to be broke. So why work?"

Sounds like a Tea Partier. She's also quite financially-minded.

"I'm an athlete and I'm black, and a lot of black athletes go broke," Williams said. "I do not want to become a statistic, so maybe I overcompensate. But I'm paranoid. Oprah told me a long time ago, 'You sign every check. Never let anyone sign any checks.'"

Could she be a closet conservative? Not likely.

Although Williams couldn't vote for Obama due to being a Jehovah's Witness, she said in 2008 she would have if her religious beliefs allowed.

And earlier this year, Williams helped launch Michelle Obama's "Let's Move! Active Schools" program.

But who knows? Maybe more time in France experiencing European socialism will change her mind.