Kendrick Lamar having Serena Williams in his Super Bowl LIX halftime show was perceived by many as a slight to Drake since the Canadian rapper and the tennis superstar had once dated – but she says her cameo had nothing to do with pettiness.
Last week, Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian defended his wife as people spoke out about her appearance in the show, calling it petty or saying she shouldn’t have Crip Walked.
On Sunday (February 16), Serena replied to her husband’s post with a message to everyone saying that she had no negative intentions.
“That there my baby daddy and husband. Always got my back,” she wrote. “I Love you. Gosh I’m so late to the game (I’ve been sick) & busy investing in billion dollar companies and running @WYNbeauty … def not dancing to be petty lol.”
She continued: “I think I proved 23 times over (not counting 4 gold medals) that I simply don’t have time for petty. All love and respect always nothing negative here. [hug emoji]”
That there my baby daddy and husband. Always got my back. I Love you 🥰 Gosh I’m so late to the game (I’ve been sick) & busy investing in billion dollar companies and running @WYNbeauty… def not dancing to be petty lol. I think I proved 23 times over (not counting 4 gold…
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) February 17, 2025
In his original message, Alexis wrote: “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.”
Serena herself referenced Wimbledon in a video to her Instagram Story immediately after her performance, saying, “Man I did not Crip walk like that at Wimbledon. I woulda been FINEDDDD! It was all love.”
She also posted about the experience to her Instagram feed.
She wrote: “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.’ 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!
“I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
Drake seemingly issued a shady reaction to Serena’s appearance, however.
Following the performance, Drizzy went on a posting spree on his burner Instagram account, @plottttwistttttt, and shared a choice picture of himself with Williams’ longtime agent Jill Smoller.
The photo was taken at Wimbledon in 2015 as the Toronto rapper cheered on his former flame.
While the tennis legend has yet to respond, Drake’s apparent dig did not go down well with fans online.
A walking contradiction.. no time to be petty because “I’m investing in billion dollar companies”.. but can take a minute to glorify gang culture that’s killed and jailed thousands of black men/women. Got time for that!
You got it exactly right. The comment(s) was the definition of petty.
Stop it i swear they all need to stop. Watch Kendrick is going to meet Trump and tell all of you the performance wasn’t what you thought it was.
Instead of petty the whole set was corny lol Kendrick is a small cornball who talks race talk so he can be looked at as intelligent.. like most people who discuss history in America, that’s really as far as their intelligence goes
yeah aight. Its the right thing to say without putting too much sauce on drake’s name, but everyone knows what it is.
Kendrik rapped that he hates the bitches Drake fucks… but had 2 bitches Drake fucked on stage with him at the Super Bowl. He’s a very confused guy.
Stop lying…it was cute the 1st time you did it but that Super Bowl shit was lame. Whole show was lackluster.