Stephen A. Smith says he was 'joking around' about Serena Williams' Super Bowl halftime cameo

Stephen A. Smith says he was ‘joking around’ about Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime cameo

Posted by author February 14, 2025 Tennis

Spread the love

When retired tennis superstar Serena Williams made a surprise appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show during Super Bowl 59, everyone with a microphone and a platform chimed in on what they thought about it.

Williams used to date hip-hop artist Drake, who was the subject of Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” and once the 23-time Grand Slam winner crip-walked into 133 million viewer’s televisions, the bloviating commenced.

Enter Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s highly paid commentator on “First Take,” who added his two cents, with the caveat of the never-married Smith saying what he would do if that happened to him.

“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him — trolling your ex?’” Smith said on Monday. “If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex — go back to his ass. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for — and you with me? Bye. Bye.”

After being dragged by every corner of the internet for those comments, Smith felt the need to go on social media to explain, which was the equivalent of saying, “I was just playing.”

Here’s Smith’s “explanation” of his comments about Williams, urging people to go back and hear what he said.

“I didn’t utter a single disrespectful word about Serena. No issues with folks getting upset of literal serious stuff one’s pissed about. This doesn’t qualify peeps. Come on. We were joking around on @FirstTake. Damn y’all! It’s not that serious,” Smith said on social media.

“Everybody knows that she and Drake were together at one time, and it seemed like everyone wanted to get their lick.”

We’re extremely online: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Everyone’s Talking newsletter.