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Tennis star Serena Williams made a surprise appearance at Super Bowl 59 during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance. She was seen dancing on the field as he sang, “Not Like Us.”
Her presence struck an immediate response on social media due to her history with rapper Drake. Williams was seemingly trolling her ex in front of millions of viewers.
Williams and Drake dated briefly between 2011 and 2015. They reportedly split but remained friends. Williams also has ties to Kendrick Lamar, as both hail from Compton. The duo teamed up to rep California in the Big Easy on Sunday.
Lamar and Drake have a beef revolving around Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us.” The song became the most decorated rap single in Grammys history earlier this month. There’s also a lawsuit surrounding the track, which led many to believe it wouldn’t be played at Super Bowl 59.
It was. Drake was trolled in front of millions on national television. Serena Williams’ performance only added insult to injury. Her presence wasn’t expected, but it seemed extremely intentional.
Behind-the-scenes footage of Serena Williams right before she joined Kendrick Lamar during his Super Bowl halftime performance, where she Crip Walked to ‘Not Like Us.’ pic.twitter.com/ZnSP3GiPuC
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) February 10, 2025
Serena Williams had to pop off with Kendrick during “Not Like Us”
Compton’s finest 😤 pic.twitter.com/9OIvVcmNnR
— espnW (@espnW) February 10, 2025
Meanwhile, Drake was seen ranting about past relationships during a concert in Australia the same night. It wasn’t the best look considering one of those exes would *literally* dance on his grave hours later.
“If you ever gave your time, gave your energy, gave your money, gave your heart, gave your soul, gave everything you ever had to somebody, and they played you and wasted your time, wasted your energy, wasted your money – I want y’all to turn up… This is for all your exes that ever thought they could play you… If you’re doing better than your ex, I wanna see you turn up.”
-Drake
Serena Williams posted about her viral Super Bowl moment after the fact. She said it was something she never could’ve done at Wimbledon. “I would’ve been FINED!”
Super Bowl halftime show babyyyyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/zufoSNdNhe
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) February 10, 2025
Williams appeared to have fun with the cameo. Drake took another L in front of a massive Super Bowl audience. It’s continued a rough stretch for the rapper as his beef with Kendrick Lamar wages on.
Her appearance wasn’t without criticism though as many on social media slammed her for doing a dance associated with the Crips gang and wearing their colors since her half-sister, Yetunde Price, who was an innocent bystander, was shot and killed in Compton in 2003 by a member of the gang.