Serena Williams denied that her now-infamous “crip walk” at the 2025 Super Bowl was a direct shot at her ex-boyfriend Drake.
“Absolutely not,” Williams, 43, told TIME in a profile published on Wednesday, April 16. “I would never do that. And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that.”
She added, “I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that. But, absolutely not. I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years.”
Williams made a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance of “Not Like Us,” a Grammy-winning song heavily rumored to be about Lamar’s feud with 38-year-old Drake. The tennis champ replicated the celebratory dance she did after winning the “Golden Slam” title in 2012 on the NFL stage.
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“I don’t know if I regret it or not,” Williams, who reportedly dated Drake in 2015, added to TIME. “I don’t know the answer to that.”
The cameo soon sparked widespread backlash and criticism. ESPN host Stephen A. Smith even claimed that, if he were married to Williams, he would have divorced her solely over the Super Bowl appearance.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Williams said. “He’s allowed to have his personal opinion. But did you see my husband’s remark? It was so eloquent.”
Williams is married to Alexis Ohanian, with whom she shares two daughters. In February, he responded to Smith, 57, via X, writing, “This is bigger than the music.” Williams concurs with Ohanian’s stance.
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“And I’m like, dude, like, we literally are investing in the world, both of us,” she said. “We’re investing in women and in sports. This is literally the last thing on our minds. Come on.”
According to Williams, she and Ohanian, 41, were more concerned with meeting pop star Taylor Swift at the big game. (Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, who ultimately lost the Super Bowl LIX to the Philadelphia Eagles.)
“I’m such a mom. I was ready to go in here myself and be like, ‘Taylor, come get this girl.’ It’s hard when your team is losing,” Williams recalled to TIME, noting she wanted to secure an autograph for daughter Olympia. “I totally get it. My husband and I, we’re so in a different space. We’re so connected, we’re so in love [and] we’re just, like, trying to get our daughter Taylor Swift autographs. And nothing else.”
