Serena Williams denies the claims of dissing Drake at the Super Bowl. (Image via Getty)

After much fan speculation, Serena Williams has finally opened up about the allegations of her dissing Drake at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl 2025 performance.

The event occurred in February, when Serena Williams joined Kendrick Lamar when the singer was performing his diss track Not Like Us, aimed at Drake. Fans soon noticed Williams doing the Crip Walk for a few seconds while Lamar sang the song. This led to speculations that Williams was shading Drake due to their rumored past romance between 2011 and 2015 and Drake’s lyrics about her husband, Alexis Ohanian.

However, the former tennis player has denied the claims in a recent interview with the Time. In the interview, she said,

“I would never do that. And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that. I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that. But absolutely not.”

She continued,

“I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years.”

Serena Williams responds to Stephen A. Smith’s comments during the Super Bowl

Serena Williams talks about the Super Bowl. (Image via Getty)
While Williams got hate comments from fans for allegedly dissing Drake at the Super Bowl, the former tennis player was also called out by Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN commentator. After seeing Williams’s crip walk, Smith reportedly passed a comment on her by saying,

“If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a*s. Cause, clearly, you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”

However, in the Time interview, Williams seemed unbothered by his comment. She responded to his comment by adding,

“I thought it was hilarious. He’s allowed to have his personal opinion. But did you see my husband’s remark? It was so eloquent.”

Serena’s comment was in response to her husband Alexis Ohanian’s post on X after the 2025 Super Bowl. On February 11, just after the Super Bowl, the co-founder of Reddit 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.”

Williams further added a comment praising her husband:

“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 medals) that I simply don’t have time for petty. All love and respect always nothing negative here.