Categories: Celebs

Aht! Aht! Serena Williams Sets Record Straight About Performing With Kendrick Lamar At The Super Bowl

Serena Williams is clearing the air on how she ended up crip-walking in front of the most-watched Super Bowl Sunday ever. Since the halftime show, social media has speculated about whether she joined Kendrick Lamar on the halftime stage to shade Drake. Two days after the viral moment, the tennis champion has given folks their answer!

RELATED:Popped Out & Showed ‘Em! Kendrick Lamar Stands On Drake Shade With THESE Surprises During Super Bowl Halftime Show (VIDEOS)

Serena Williams Shares Details About Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Invite

Before Sunday’s Super Bowl, 2012 was the last year Serena Williams did the C-walk in front of a large audience. At the time, she had won a gold medal at the London Olympics. However, back then, her c-walk wasn’t received with the same praise it got on Kendrick Lamar’s stage. In fact, Williams was dragged in the press for allegedly being inappropriate and glorifying gang violence. It was not seen as a dance honoring her L.A. upbringing.

So, for Serena Williams, performing at the Bowl LIX was her lick, clap, and get back at that energy. She took the opportunity Kenny and his team offered to collab, and c-walked with it!

“When @kendricklamar and team called and was like ‘weve been trying to do something forever, what about this? We loved your crip walk at the Olympics after you won the gold medal.’ Im like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a superbowl? (Never) lets do it! I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”

See social media reactions to what she said HERE.

At no point did Serena Williams admit or deny whether shading Drake was also a factor in her Super Bowl moment! In recent years, the rapper went from being publicly infatuated with the tennis pro to dissing her and her husband in his music.

That said, somebody might want to get Boosie on the line! It looks like his recent SPICY take on Serena Williams’ Super Bowl appearance might be a lil’ off, chile!

RELATED:Boosie & Marlon Wayans Share Messages About Drake After Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Show

Serena’s Husband Defends Her Bowl Appearance

On Monday (February 11), Williams’ husband weighed in on her guest spot in Kendrick’s show.

“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,” Alexis Ohanian wrote.

In a second and third post, he highlighted the Philadelphia Eagles dance break in the locker room and teased the “criminal” history of Irish step-dancing and Northern English clog dancing.

Kendrick Lamar’s Performance Becomes Most-Watched

All that aside, Serena Williams’ moment at the Bowl will now be a part of history. According to Roc Nation, Kendrick Lamar’s performance bumped Michael Jackson out of the top spot for the most-watched halftime show with 133.5 million viewers. MJ had 133.4 million in 1993.

Additionally, the Super Bowl itself also did numbers, becoming the most-watched in history with 127.7 million viewers, per Fox Sports.

RELATED:Ye Compares Drake To R. Kelly While Speaking About Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance (VIDEO)
Cassandra Santiago

Cassandra Santiago is a multimedia journalist, editor, and editorial strategist with over a decade of experience shaping conversations across arts, entertainment, culture, and global news. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she has built a cross-platform career spanning newspapers, magazines, radio, and digital media. She joined The Shade Room five years ago and currently serves as a Senior Editor, where she leads editorial direction, oversees exclusive coverage, and trains and edits a team of writers. Cassandra has played a key role in developing high-impact content and editorial strategies for an audience of more than 30 million, contributing to platform growth, engagement, and monetization across multiple channels. In addition to her leadership role, she remains a daily contributor, with her articles generating more than 41 million views since 2023. Beyond The Shade Room, Cassandra offers freelance social media strategy services, speaks on the influence and impact of Black media at public panels, and owns Did It For You, an event design company in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. She is Poynter Institute–certified and was named to the DMV’s 35 Under 35 list in 2024.

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