Serena Williams Denies Dissing Drake at Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl Set

Of the myriad of warnings that Kendrick Lamar issued to Drake on “Not Like Us,” one in particular inspired a special guest appearance during his Super Bowl halftime show set earlier this year. “Better not speak on Serena,” he rapped on a prideful verse packed with West Coast references. When Serena Williams, a fellow Compton native, popped out crip walking during “Not Like Us,” it was largely perceived as another slight at the Canadian rapper. The sports legend doesn’t necessarily see it that way herself.

“I would never do that,” Williams told Time Magazine when asked if she showed up just to shade 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.”

Williams is rumored to have dated Drake years ago. On his song “Worst Behavior,” the rapper called her husband, Alexis Ohanian, a “groupie.” Some social commentators, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, were more up in arms about Williams’ perceived diss than Ohanian even was. “I thought it was hilarious,” she said about Smith’s reaction in particular, in which he placed himself in a hypothetical marriage with her. “If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass,” Smith said at the time. “’Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye-bye.”

Williams praised her husband’s “eloquent” response, which included sharing a clip of the winning team, the Philadelphia Eagles, dancing to “Not Like Us” with the caption: “This is bigger than the music.” Williams admits that she doesn’t know if she regrets her decision to dance during the history-making halftime show, but she was thinking about her own history-making accomplishments. “Who would have thought that a tennis player from Compton would be regarded as one of the best tennis players of all time?” she said. “It was just putting an exclamation on it.”

The 23-time Grand Slam champion might not feel the need to pick a side in a rap battle with a pretty distinctly clear winner, but even if she did, the choice is obvious. “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,” Williams joked. “He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken.”