Serena Williams is a lot of things: a 4-time Olympic gold medalist, tennis legend, beauty founder, mother, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025. But she is not here for those claiming she threw shade at Drake during her Super Bowl halftime appearance.
ICYMI, Serena and Drake reportedly dated on-and-off from 2011 to 2o15, and the tennis star made a cameo in Kendrick Lamar’s historic Super Bowl halftime show during “Not Like Us,” a diss track aimed at the “Headlines” hitmaker amid their ongoing beef. How! Ever! Serena clarified that her involvement in the performance had nothing to do with K. Dot and Drizzy’s feud.
“Absolutely not,” she said when asked if she was throwing shade at Drake. “I would never do that. And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that. I respect how they could.”
She continued, “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.”
During her halftime appearance, the Wyn Beauty founder did a Crip walk, which called back to her win against Maria Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics. While she was criticized for the move, the athlete defended her choice, telling The Guardian at the time, “It was just a dance.”
After Kendrick’s performance, she took to Instagram to celebrate the occasion and wrote, in part, “I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
