Serena Williams, Drake and the real story behind that Super Bowl cameo.

During Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl half-time performance, there was an unexpected cameo by iconic tennis player, Serena Williams.

The appearance lasted only a few seconds — if you blinked long enough you would've missed her — but it's still being talked about days later. And for good reason.

Williams was shown crip walking on stage to Lamar's viral diss track, Not Like Us, aimed at rapper Drake.

Not only was Williams' presence a cheeky dig and what is a sordid history between her and Drake (whatever you think happened, trust me, it's weirder), but her dance was also a reference to a scandal at Wimbledon.

Watch: The moment itself: tennis legend Serena Williams' hits the crip walk at the 2025 Super Bowl. Post continues below. 

Serena Williams and Drake's history.

If you had no idea that Serena Williams and Drake had some kind of history, that's because the rumours that they dated were never confirmed. However, if Drake's behaviour is anything to go by, there was definitely something going on.

Rumours that the two were romantically linked sprouted in 2011, when Drake was spotted at multiple of Williams' matches. Sports reporter Ben Rosenberg wrote that in 2012, the certified loverboy was really into Williams, and "trailed" her around like a "puppy", appearing at match after match and following her around the facilities. It's unclear if Williams reciprocated these feelings, or if Drake's interest was unrequited.

Williams then hard-launched her now-husband Alexis Ohanian in 2015, so whatever was happening between her and Drake was decidedly over by then, at least for her.

In 2017, the pair had a baby girl (who they named after Ohanian) and got married. In 2023, Williams birthed their second daughter.

You'd think the story ends there, but in 2022 (seven years after she'd moved on), Drake released his track "Middle of the Ocean" which included the lyrics "Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don't got a problem but / No boo, it is like you coming for sushi." Yikes!

Calling Williams' husband a groupie, when Drake was the one who followed her around for years, is wild to say the least.

However, Ohanian responded with a tweet that said: "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 and daughter."

This history is partially why Lamar invited Williams onto his set — so she could let the world know exactly where she stands with Drake. But there's actually more to her appearance than a dig at a former (alleged) lover.

Her inclusion was also a statement that she is proud of who she is, and that no one — especially not Wimbledon — can take away her culture and identity. But where does Wimbledon come into all of this?

Serena Williams' 2012 crip walk dance.

The reason that Serena Williams choosing to crip walk at the Super Bowl half-time show is so significant is because it's a defiant and cheeky callback to the 2012 Olympic celebration, in which she faced heavy backlash for her crip walking on the court after winning a match against Maria Sharapova.

Crip walking is associated with the LA-based Crip gang, and was a nod to where Williams' is from. Of course, the wider tennis world had a lot to say about her celebratory dance — at one point, it was compared to "cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church" — and this was pretty consistent with the way her hair, clothing, and any expression at all of her Blackness has been policed during her career.

By crip walking at the Super Bowl, Williams was also delivering a middle finger to those that have tried to squash her identity down. She's still here, she's still herself, and she is unapologetically and joyfully Black.

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. pic.twitter.com/Xq4O96Yg0s

— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) February 11, 2025

The origin of crip-walking.

As mentioned above, crip walking is associated with the Crip gang, which is based in LA where Serena is also from. In recent years, the dance has been adapted and performed by rappers from various areas along the West Coast of the US. However, it first became popular in the 1970s and was associated with the Crips because the footwork used to spell out C-R-I-P.

However, perhaps a less known fact is that the "crip" in "crip walk" is thought not to refer to the gang, but to be short for "cripple". The move can be traced back to Henry 'Crip' Heard, a professional dancer from Harlem who was most active in the '40s and '50s.

Heard became a double amputee after his car was hit by a train. Losing an arm and a leg didn't stop him from dancing, though, and so Williams doing the crip walk symbolises more than pride for LA — it's a nod to Black joy, and a push-back against the anti-blackness and ableism that erased him from the narrative.

Serena Williams' cameo at the Super Bowl half-time show, while just a fraction of the performance, is reverberating all across the internet for a reason — it's certainly a dig at Drake and his behaviour, but it's also about history, culture and authenticity.

Feature: Getty.