

Serena Williams is not here for the distractions-especially when they attempt to reduce her powerful presence alongside Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl to little more than relationship gossip.
After her unexpected appearance during Kendrick’s performance of “Not Like Us,” many rushed to connect dots between the tennis icon and the track’s target, Drake, whom Williams briefly dated over a decade ago.
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But in a recent interview with Time, Williams swiftly dismissed the idea that her moment on stage was meant as a jab.
“Absolutely not,” Williams said when asked whether her crip walk during Lamar‘s set was shade toward Drake. “I would never do that.”
Serena and Kendrick send a message – and it’s not for Drake
This wasn’t a petty cameo. It was a statement of cultural pride, of solidarity between two Black icons from Compton-not a sideshow for a rapper feud.
Williams, 43, said she’s “never had negative feelings” towards Drake, and that the suggestion her Super Bowl appearance was about him is both “sad” and completely off-base.
Yes, she did the crip walk. Again. But the dance move that once drew backlash when she celebrated her 2012 Wimbledon win has always meant more than what critics choose to see. At the time, Williams had to defend herself from claims that she was glorifying gangs, saying, “It was just a dance… You should be trying to ask me questions to lift me up.”
A decade later, the same outdated narratives persist-especially from those uncomfortable with seeing Black excellence on a global stage.
And now, after she and Kendrick shared that stage in the middle of a historic performance aimed at calling out hypocrisy and reclaiming power, she’s once again forced to explain what should be obvious.
“I don’t know if I regret it or not,” Williams reflected, adding that she’d had two shots of tequila before stepping out. But whatever hesitation she had, the message was sent-not to Drake, but to the culture. It was about legacy, connection, and resilience.
Williams and Lamar didn’t just share a performance. They shared a city, a history, and a mindset.
While others read gossip between the lines, the truth was right there in front of them: two legends moving with intention, not for headlines-but for history.
This news was originally published on this post .
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