Serena Williams says Super Bowl halftime appearance was not shade toward Drake
Serena Williams is clearing the air about her Super Bowl halftime cameo.
The tennis legend, who was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2025 on Wednesday, opened up to the outlet about hitting the stage with Kendrick Lamar for his Super Bowl LIX halftime performance in February.
Williams appeared onstage performing a crip walk during Lamar's song "Not Like Us," a diss track directed at Canadian rapper Drake amid their long-running, highly publicized feud, however, Williams said her appearance during the song was not intended as shade toward Drake.
"Absolutely not," she said, speaking with Time. "I would never do that."
Williams continued, "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 added. "I have never had negative feelings towards him. We've known him for so many years."
The tennis star said she and Lamar had been trying to work together for "ages."
When the Grammy winner asked her to hit the stage with him during the Super Bowl, Williams said she saw it as an opportunity to spotlight Compton, California, her hometown, as well as Lamar's.
"Who would have thought that a tennis player from Compton would be regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time?" she said. "It was just putting an exclamation on it."
While the moment was a special one for Williams, it came with some criticism. According to Time, the Federal Communications Commission received 125 complaints after Lamar's halftime performance, including one that accused Williams of "promoting gang affiliation." (The crip walk was originally created in the 1970s by members of The Crips, a street gang based in Southern California, but has since been adopted by the broader hip-hop community.)
The moment also reminded some of the time Williams showed off the same moves at the 2012 Olympics after she beat Maria Sharapova, a celebration that also drew criticism.
At the time, Williams told The Guardian that "it was just a dance."
After she hit the halftime stage in February, Williams took to Instagram and wrote in the caption of a post, "I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story."
In response to being featured in the Time100 list, Williams said she was "honored" to be recognized.
This year's Time100 list also recognizes Demi Moore, Snoop Dogg, Simone Biles, Jon M. Chu and more.
