Serena Williams has shared why she crip-walked to Kendrick Lamar’s scathing diss track about her ex, Drake, at Super Bowl LIX.
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On Sunday (February 9), the 43-year-old tennis icon made a show-stopping appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Williams was seen crip-walking in front of a lamp post on the Caesars Superdome field as the rapper performed his Grammy-winning track, ‘Not Like Us,’ which is aimed at her alleged ex, Drake.
The cameras caught the Compton native dancing twice during the song before the 37-year-old rapper transitioned into his other song, ‘TV Off.’
Watch the moment below:The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who famously crip-walked after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics, shared the backstory of her appearance in an Instagram video.
“When @kendricklamar and team called and was like, ‘we’ve been trying to do something forever, what about this? We loved your crip walk at the Olympics after you won the gold medal,'” Williams wrote in the caption.
“I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a Superbowl? (Never) let’s do it!” she continued. “I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
The mom-of-two gave fans a look at her pre-show jitters in the behind-the-scenes video.
Wearing a blue-and-white tennis-themed outfit, she practiced her moves in her trailer, hyping herself up in a shirt featuring Kobe Bryant in Dodgers gear.
“Showtime, baby,” she said while rehearsing her steps. “We got this.” She continued practicing on the sidelines before stepping onto the field, fully embracing her brief yet viral moment.
“I was focused,” Williams said when someone pointed out that she was on camera longer than expected. “I ain’t letting that 15 seconds of fame go. I gotta get famous for something,” she quipped.
While William’s appearance was just a few seconds long, it sent social media into a frenzy – especially given her past relationship with Drake in the 2010s.
According to The New York Post, the 38-year-old Canadian star once admitted that he wrote his hit song ‘Too Good (featuring Rihanna)’ about the Tennis legend.
While most fans celebrated the moment, not everyone was impressed – Drake included, most likely. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith even weighed in, saying he wouldn’t be happy if his partner publicly trolled their ex like that.
But one person who had zero issues was Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Ohanian defended his wife, pointing out that the backlash over her 2012 Olympics crip walk still lingers.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows…. This is bigger than the music,” he wrote.
