(ThyBlackMan.com) Drake appears to have issued a shady reaction to his ex-girlfriend Serena Williams making a cameo during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, sending fans into a frenzy with his latest social media antics. The Toronto rapper wasted no time stirring the pot after the performance, taking to his burner Instagram account, @plottttwistttttt, and posting a carefully chosen throwback picture of himself with Serena’s longtime agent, Jill Smoller. The photo, taken at Wimbledon in 2015, shows Drizzy in the stands, enthusiastically supporting his former flame during one of her matches. If it wasn’t obvious before, Drake was making it crystal clear now—he saw the cameo, and he had something to say about it.
The timing of the post was everything. Just moments after Serena’s surprise Super Bowl appearance, Drake chose to remind the world of his past ties to the tennis legend, seemingly hinting at unresolved feelings or, at the very least, an attempt to reclaim some relevance in a moment that had nothing to do with him. While Serena has yet to respond to Drake’s apparent shade, fans on social media wasted no time in calling him out. One person summed up the situation by writing, “Wow that’s creepy and weird,” while another joked, “‘Drake is so unbothered’ this dude was definitely crying after watching the highlights.” Others pointed out the glaring irony, with a third user commenting, “Damn! He responded to a woman with the quickness. Too bad he won’t do the same to the man who has had his foot on his neck for the past year.”
That man, of course, is none other than Kendrick Lamar. Serena’s appearance was a moment that left Hip Hop fans gasping—not just because she’s a cultural icon in her own right, but because of where she appeared. She was seen on an elevated stage towards the end of Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance, briefly Crip Walking as he performed his explosive Drake diss track “Not Like Us.” That particular song has been the anthem of Kendrick’s ongoing war with the 6 God, and Serena’s involvement, whether intentional or not, seemed like a symbolic co-sign of sorts. As someone who hails from Compton herself, the 43-year-old tennis icon fit seamlessly into Kendrick’s West Coast-themed halftime show, but the implications of her presence didn’t go unnoticed.
And while Serena was simply having a good time on one of the biggest stages in entertainment, the internet took notice of the way the moment was being perceived. The backlash was swift, and not everyone was in favor of Serena’s surprise dance moves. Media personalities like Charlamagne Tha God and Stephen A. Smith raised eyebrows, questioning her choice to perform the dance on such a grand stage. But Serena’s husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, wasn’t having it. In a strong defense of his wife, he took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “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 herself wasted no time addressing the moment, posting a lighthearted response to the criticism on social media. “Man I did not Crip Walk like that at Wimbledon. I woulda been fined! It was all love,” she joked in a video immediately following the performance. She then took to Instagram to reflect on the experience, revealing how the cameo came together. “When @kendricklamar and team called and was like ‘we’ve been trying to do something forever, what about this? We loved your Crip Walk at the Olympics after you won the gold medal,’” she wrote. “I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a Super Bowl? (Never) let’s do it! I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
It was a moment of pure joy for Serena, but for Drake, it appeared to be an opportunity to stir up old wounds. Fans were quick to point out that the move reeked of insecurity, with many suggesting that he was still hung up on Serena, years after their alleged romance. Drake and Serena’s rumored relationship dates back to 2011, when the rapper was spotted at several of her tennis matches, cheering her on. The speculation only grew stronger when paparazzi caught the two looking cozy at a Cincinnati restaurant in 2015, but nothing was ever officially confirmed.
That brief romance became a lyrical reference point years later when Kendrick Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” a diss track that single-handedly dismantled Drake’s standing in Hip Hop and fueled one of the most vicious rap beefs in recent history. In the song, Kendrick takes a jab at Drake’s past relationship with Serena, rapping: “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither / From Alondra down to Central, n-gga better not speak on Serena.” The bar not only reaffirms Serena’s deep-rooted ties to Compton but also seems to suggest that Drake, much like former NBA player DeMar DeRozan, didn’t truly appreciate the city’s stars.
With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Drake felt the need to respond in some way to Serena’s cameo. However, instead of taking a more direct approach, he opted for his signature passive-aggressive style—posting an old photo that only further confirmed what many had suspected: he was watching. And he wasn’t happy about it.
This latest saga is just another chapter in Drake’s long history of being unable to let go of past relationships. Whether it’s name-dropping exes in his songs or making cryptic social media posts, the rapper has built a reputation for keeping tabs on former flames long after they’ve moved on. But in this case, his attempt to reclaim the narrative seemed to backfire spectacularly. Fans were quick to remind him that his energy was misplaced, especially given the fact that Kendrick Lamar had been publicly dismantling him for months without a single notable response.
The internet had jokes for days, with some pointing out how Drake seems to have more smoke for Serena Williams than for Kendrick himself. Others noted that, at the end of the day, Serena was simply enjoying herself, while Drake was stuck in the past. One fan summed it up best: “Serena is literally retired, married, rich, and living her best life. Meanwhile, Drake is out here reminiscing on a 2015 Wimbledon match like it was yesterday.”
While Serena may have remained silent on the matter, her actions spoke volumes. Her Super Bowl cameo wasn’t just about a dance move or a rap song—it was a cultural moment, one that celebrated Compton’s influence on both sports and music. And as for Drake, well, he may have posted his little throwback photo, but in the grand scheme of things, it was clear who truly had the last laugh.
Staff Writer; Jamar Jackson
