Serena Williams has denied that her cameo in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was ever meant to be a dig at Drake – insisting she is still on good terms with her famous ex.

The tennis legend made a shock appearance when Kendrick performed ‘Not Like Us’ – his notorious diss track about Drake – during the NFL showpiece at Caesars Superdome back in February.

Her viral c-walking cameo was all the more significant given she is rumored to have briefly dated Drake between 2011 and 2015, meaning many were quick to ᴀssume she was throwing shade at her old flame by dancing along to a controversial song with lyrics calling him a ‘pedophile’.

Another lyric in the diss track also says ‘n**** better not speak on Serena’.

Yet despite dancing to the song on one of the largest platforms possible, Williams has stressed that she never intended to throw shade at the Canadian rapper. 

After being named as one of the magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, she told TIME when asked if she was firing sH๏τs at Drake: ‘Absolutely not. I would never do that. And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that. 

Serena Williams has denied that her Super Bowl halftime cameo was meant to be a dig at Drake

The tennis legend made a shock appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about Drake

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‘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.’

One of the fiercest critics of Serena’s Super Bowl cameo was ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, who sensationally claimed he would divorce the 23-time Grand Slam winner if he was her husband Alexis Ohanian.

‘You could say give her props. If I’m your husband, why are you up there trolling your ex?’ Smith said on First Take. ‘If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a**, ’cause clearly you don’t belong with me.

‘What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.’

But Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder who married Williams in 2017, fired back a week later by posting on X: ‘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.’

Serena later responded to her husband’s post by writing: ‘Def not dancing to be petty lol. I think I proved 23 times over (not counting 4 medals) that I simply don’t have time for petty.’ 

When asked by TIME about Smith’s rant about her Super Bowl cameo, Williams said: ‘I thought it was hilarious. He’s allowed to have his personal opinion. 

‘But did you see my husband’s remark? It was so eloquent.’