Serena Williams’ husband has reacted after she made a surprise appearance at the Super Bowl half-time show.
The retired tennis star popped up at an interesting moment while Kendrick Lamar performed Not Like Us, a Drake diss track.
Williams dated Drake a decade ago. And her husband of seven years, Alexis Ohanian, has now had his say.
Lamar promised a surprise for his half-time show, and he delivered. During Not Like Us, cameras suddenly panned to Williams, who looked into the camera while crip walking.
Fans quickly picked up on the significance of Williams’ appearance. The 23-time Grand Slam champion dated Drake in 2015.
He has since made reference to Williams in some of his songs. In Middle of the Ocean, a track released in 2022, Drake rapped: “Serena, your husband a groupie.”
But the former world No. 1 got the last laugh, making it to one of the biggest stages to join Lamar as he performed his diss track.
It was also a special appearance for Williams given her history with the crip walk dance. The 43-year-old brought it out on Wimbledon’s Centre Court when she claimed a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics and was heavily criticised.
And her husband has now explained the meaning behind Sunday’s Super Bowl performance.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows…. This is bigger than the music,” Ohanian wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Williams’ husband also attached a screenshot from an article condemning Williams for crip walking at Wimbledon.
It read: “Yes. Her dance was the height of disrespect: Williams ‘deserves to be criticised and she should’ve immediately apologised’, says Jason Whitlock at Fox Sports. What she did ‘was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church.’”
The 43-year-old also referenced her Wimbledon crip walk after getting on stage with Lamar. In a video backstage after the performance, she said: “Oh, I did not Crip Walk like that at Wimbledon. I would have been fiiinnneeed!”
It wasn’t the first time Williams showed her support for Lamar and his song.
While presenting the 2024 ESPYS, the retired tennis ace danced to Not Like Us and said: “If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us, not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar.”
Taylor Swift getting booed was not the only moment of high-profile misogyny that came from the Super Bowl. After Serena Williams made a cameo during Kendrick La
“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him—trolling your ex?’” he said during a Feb. 10 episode of the First Take podc
Alexis Ohanian defended his wife, Serena Williams, following her surprise cameo in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.The Reddit co-founder first react
The US Open is moving its mixed doubles tournament to the week before singles play begins, hoping a revamped format and $1m prize will persuade top players to c