After the huge uproar caused by her appearance on stage during Kendrick Lamar's epic performance at Super Bowl 2025, Serena Williams decided to speak out and publicly clarify that she had no intention of criticizing Drake.
The tennis star, who was this week named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2025, spoke about her coming out during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance in February.
Williams took to the stage to dance during the song "Not Like Us," a blatant diss to Drake, part of a long and public feud between the two artists. However, Serena said her participation had nothing to do with the conflict.
“Absolutely not,” she told Time. “I would never do such a thing.”
She further added:
"It was sad that anyone would think that. But I understand why they perceived it that way."
"I've never had any negative feelings towards him (Drake). We've known each other for many years," emphasized Serena, who was rumored to have been in a relationship with Drake in 2011 and he even attended some of her matches as an ardent fan.
The tennis star revealed that she and Kendrick Lamar had been trying to collaborate for a while, and when the Grammy winner invited her to join him on stage for his Super Bowl performance, she saw it as an opportunity to spotlight her hometown of Compton, California - the same city where Lamar grew up.
“Who would have thought that a tennis player from Compton would one day be ranked among the greatest of all time?” she said. “It was just a way to put an exclamation point on this journey.”
