Serena Williams denies dissing Drake with her cameo during Kendrick Lamar‘s 2025 Super Bowl halftime show performance.

Serena Williams Confirms She Was Not Dissing Drake

On Wednesday (April 16), Time magazine released its Time 100 The World’s Most Influential People issue for 2025. The tennis star is one of the celebrities who graces the cover of the periodical. During the interview, Serena addresses her cameo Crip walking on K-Dot’s Big Game set, which reportedly drew at least one complaint to the FCC.

“I don’t know if I regret it or not,” Serena tells Time. “I don’t know the answer to that.”

While aligning with Kendrick Lamar could be seen as a slight to Drake, who Serena formerly dated, she claims that was not the case.

“Absolutely not,” she adds. “I would never do that. 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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Serena Williams cutting a rug during Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance had some fans thinking it was a direct slight at Drizzy due to Drake and Serena’s past relationship. Rumors of the 6 God and Serena dating started in 2011 when he began attending her tennis matches. The following year, Drake and Common got into a widely publicized beef that was due to both rappers’ love for the tennis star. In 2015, Drake and Serena were caught on camera making out. However, their fling appeared to be over by 2017.

In 2022, Drake name-dropped Serena on the Her Loss track “Middle of the Ocean” and referenced her husband, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.

“I swear you don’t even mean what y’all say like y’all dubbin’ a movie/Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie,” Drake raps on the song. “He claim we don’t got a problem, but/No, boo, it is like you comin’ for sushi/We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki.”

Ohanian responded to the mention on social media. “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 & daughter,” Ohanian wrote on X.

Last August, Drake admitted in a throwback video he shared online that his 2016 song “Too Good” is about Serena.

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