Serena Williams claims she was not throwing any shade in Drake’s direction after taking the stage at Super Bowl LIX.
During Kendrick Lamar’s epic Halftime performance, Williams garnered cheers throughout the stadium when she “Crip Walked” while “Not Like Us” played.
In an interview with Time, as she graces the cover of the Time 100, Williams said she didn’t intend to shade Drake on arguably the biggest live performance and biggest song of 2024.
“Absolutely not,” Williams said, adding that she would “never do that.”
The tennis icon went on to say that it’s “sad that anyone would ever think that” she would mock her ex.
“I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that, but absolutely not.”
This was not the first time that Williams pulled out the dance in front of millions of viewers. In 2012, the Compton native crip walked after defeating Maria Sharapova to win at Wimbledon. In the aftermath of the celebration, Williams received criticism claiming that the dance was associated with gangs.
“First of all. It was just a dance,” Williams told The Guardian. “I didn’t know that’s what it was called. Second, why are you asking me that? If anything, you should be trying to ask me questions to lift me up, not bring such things … I’m done with that question,” she added.
Previously, Williams shared on Instagram why she chose to perform alongside Lamar.
“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,” she said at the time.
“I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a Super Bowl? (Never) let’s do it,” she continued. “I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
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