Serena Williams is not here for the drama regarding social media criticism of her Super Bowl appearance. After finding herself at the center of an unanticipated controversy, the tennis icon quickly cleared the air.
Williams, 43, had a short but buzzworthy cameo during Kendrick Lamar's halftime performance at Super Bowl LVIII. The moment that set the internet ablaze? Her Crip Walk as Lamar rapped his incendiary song "Not Like Us," a track most are recognizing as a direct diss aimed at his rap nemesis, Drake.
Speculation didn't take long to swirl. Others accused Williams of siding with Drake in the Drake vs. Kendrick feud, pointing to her alleged romance with the Toronto rapper. Others dug up old criticisms they leveled when she first broke out the Crip Walk after winning Olympic gold in 2012, saying it was an inappropriate display.
But Williams wasn't going to let all the noise get to her. Amid the social media back and forth, her husband, Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, stepped in to defend her.
"Some of y'all don't even realize how much people wanted to criticize Serena over this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it's showing… This is bigger than the music," Ohanian posted on X (formerly Twitter), reminding everyone that Williams had faced similar backlash.
A week later, Williams replied, adding much-needed humor and perspective to this tale. Citing her husband's post, she said, "That there, my baby daddy and husband. They always got my back. I love you."
She then faced the larger conversation immediately, shooting down any claims that her dance was an intended dig at Drake.
"Ugh, I'm so late to the game. I've been sick & busy dropping $$$ investing in billion-dollar companies and running @wynbeauty. I'm most definitely not dancing out of pettiness, lol.
In classic Serena style, she concluded with a mic-drop moment that left no room for ambiguity:
"I think I demonstrated 23 times over, not including four gold medals that I just simply don't have time for petty. All love and respect, and there is always nothing bad here."
Williams's response was a reminder of why she's a legend, not just in sports but in life. With 23 Grand Slam titles, four Olympic gold medals, and a burgeoning empire in the business world, she has bigger fish to fry than cyberspace arguments over a halftime show cameo.
Amid all the noise around her, Williams continues to thrive, and her business and investment enterprises in the beauty industry are growing . At the same time, she also embraces a life now well beyond the tennis court. If nothing else, her Super Bowl moment showed that it doesn't matter what she does — winning championships, building brands, or just vibing out at a halftime show — Serena Williams will always be the main attraction.
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