Serena Williams Denies She Was Being ‘Petty’ Dancing at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show
Written by djfrosty on February 18, 2025
As evidenced throughout her career, Serena Williams likes to go big — and she doesn’t do anything for small reasons. That includes her recent appearance during Kendrick Lamar‘s 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show, about which the superstar athlete is now shutting down rumors regarding the so-called “petty” reasons she decided to take part in the performance.
Replying to a post on X about the cultural significance of the cameo she made as Lamar performed Billboard Hot 100-topper “Not Like Us” at the big game — shared by her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian — Williams wrote Monday (Feb. 17), “… def not dancing to be petty lol.”
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“I think I proved 23 times over (not counting 4 gold medals) that I simply don’t have time for petty,” she continued.
The tennis champion’s post comes a full week after Ohanian — with whom Williams shares two daughters — posted his initial tweet, in which he reminded followers how much backlash his wife received when she famously crip walked at Wimbledon in 2012. Thirteen years later, Williams reclaimed the narrative by crip walking again, this time for more than 130 million viewers on the Super Bowl stage with Dot in New Orleans.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance,” the entrepreneur wrote, sharing a screenshot of an old article calling Williams’ dance at Wimbledon “the height of disrespect.” “This is bigger than the music.”
“That there my baby daddy and husband,” the Olympian added in her reply. “Always got my back. I Love you.”
Williams’ seconds-long appearance during halftime Feb. 9 was certainly one of the most talked-about moments from Lamar’s 13-minute showcase — not only because of its callback to Wimbledon, but also due to the athlete’s rumored romantic past with Drake, whom the Compton rapper taunted multiple times during the show. In addition to cheekily referencing Drizzy’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over “Not Like Us,” Lamar also led the crowd at Caesars Superdome in an ear-splitting “Tryna strike a chord, and it’s probably A-minor” chant seconds after looking straight into the camera and jeering, “Say, Drake, I hear you like them young …”
Because of Lamar’s feud with Drake, many fans assumed that the “Squabble Up” artist was adding insult to injury by inviting his foe’s rumored ex to join him on stage. But according to Williams, she only had pure intentions before getting on the field.
She added in her post, “All love and respect always nothing negative here.”