Serena Williams issues clarification about not having "negative feelings" toward Drake after controversial Super Bowl crip-walk

Serena Williams broke the internet two months ago by crip-walking during a live rendition of Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us at the 2025 Super Bowl half-time show. The 23-time Major winner recently cleared the air surrounding whether her performance was intended as a direct shot at Drake, who was involved in a highly-publicized beef with the Compton-based rapper last year.

Williams polarized people by taking center stage during the half-time show at the Super Bowl LIX championship game between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. While many lauded the American for celebrating black culture with her crip-walk, a few alleged that she held resentment against the R&B icon over their rumored relationship in the 2010s.

Amid the controversy, Serena Williams spoke to Time Magazine earlier this week, rubbishing the above claims. The 43-year-old claimed in her interview that she has never harbored "negative feelings" towards Drake. However, she did concede in the same breath that the negative perception regarding her collaboration with Kendrick Lamar was understandable in light of Not Like Us being a diss track that dissected the Canadian pop star's real-life persona.

"Absolutely not. I would never do that," Serena Williams told Time when asked whether her crip-walk at Super Bowl was intended as a swipe at Drake. "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. I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years."

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"Relentless about being the best at what I do" - When Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian clapped back at Drake's diss at him

In Picture: Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian spotted during a public event | Image Source: Getty

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, was the recipient of a rather unsavory remark from Drake on Middle of the Ocean from his 2022 album Her Loss. In one of the verses, the Canadian rapper went as far as to call the Reddit co-founder a "groupie"

"Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie/He claim we don’t got a problem but/No, boo, it is like you comin’ for sushi," Drake wrote in the Middle of the Ocean track in 2022.

Ohanian responded to the above lyrics directed at him soon afterward, calling himself "the best groupie" for his family.

"The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do—including being the best groupie for my wife and daughter," Alexis Ohanian wrote in his reply to Drake on X.

It should also be noted that the $150-million worth businessman (via Celebrity Net Worth), who is admittedly a huge fan of Kendrick Lamar, also seemingly enjoyed the Not Like Us performance during the Super Bowl half-time show in February, going by his reaction on social media back then.