Serena Williams Reflects On Crip Walking At The Super Bowl LIX

One of the most exciting special guests during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show — aside from SZA, of course — was Serena Williams, who hit the Crip Walk to “Not Like Us” on Sunday (Feb. 9). What no one expected, however, was that it would double as a last laugh to controversially hitting the dance move after defeating Maria Sharapova at the London Olympics in 2012.

Just days after dancing in front of over 100 million viewers, the Grand Slam champion shared a heartfelt thank-you to the GNX rapper on Tuesday (Feb. 11), along with some behind-the-scenes footage. “When Kendrick Lamar and [his] 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 explained.

“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!’” the mother of two continued. “I knew my winning dance after the Olympics would pay off one day.”

For context, her 2012 celebration sparked plenty of outrage, with many critics demanding she be fined or even stripped of her gold medal. A lot of that backlash was not just about the dance itself, but about who was doing it. As a Black woman in tennis — a sport that is historically rigid and overwhelmingly white — she has faced constant scrutiny for everything from her expressions to her outfits. However, for those who understood, it was a cultural nod to her upbringing in Los Angeles, and more specifically, Compton.

In the clip shared Tuesday morning, Williams walked viewers through the whole lead-up to her big moment, from getting glammed up to watching the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Eagles, all the way to Lamar’s performance. At one point during his set, she hilariously whispered to the camera, “It’s a bad time to have to pee.”

Afterward, she celebrated the way anyone would after a once-in-a-lifetime moment. “That was the best 10 seconds of my life… I was doing so good. I was focused,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘I ain’t letting that 15 seconds of fame go.’ I gotta get famous for something,” she joked, as if she is not already the most decorated tennis player in history.

It was not all that surprising to see Williams take the Super Bowl LIX field, given that she got a shoutout in 2024’s “Not Like Us.” Lamar dropped the line, “From Alondra down to Central, n**ga better not speak on Serena,” in a reference to the WYN BEAUTY founder’s rumored romance with Drake.

It is also worth noting that Sunday’s Big Game wasn’t even Williams’ first time publicly dancing to the Mustard-produced track. Some might remember her bringing up the song at the 2024 ESPY Awards, which she hosted. “The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken,” the Olympic gold medalist joked at the event.