Serena Williams just brought her crip walk back to the spotlight — and not just any spotlight, but the Super Bowl!
If you’re wondering how the tennis icon ended up busting out the infamous dance at the biggest stage in sports, well, here’s the tea.
Serena recently shared on Instagram how Kendrick Lamar and his team had been trying to collaborate with her for years. After they saw her crip walk following her Olympic gold medal win, they knew they had to bring it to the Super Bowl.
“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,’” Serena recalled. Her reaction? “Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a Super Bowl? Let’s do it!”
But here’s where it gets juicy. Williams’ crip walk has a complicated history.
Many remember the backlash she faced back at the 2012 Olympics in London after performing the move in celebration of her gold medal. The crip walk is associated with the Crips gang from Los Angeles’ Compton area, and while Serena’s dance was purely celebratory, the internet had mixed reactions.
Fast forward to now, and that same crip walk is stealing the show at the Super Bowl — and possibly sending a message to her ex, Drake.
Due to Williams’ history with Drake — reportedly being in a romantic relationship with him in years prior — many have speculated that her Super Bowl appearance might be a subtle response to a diss from her former partner.
In 2022, Drake took a shot at Williams and her current husband, Alex Ohanian, on the track “Middle of the Ocean,” and fans quickly picked up on the jab. Was Serena’s Super Bowl cameo a way to get back at Drake? Some think so, given the timing and the dramatic comeback of the crip walk.
Serena herself seems to have brushed off any drama, but she did post a video of herself performing the dance at the Super Bowl, captioning it, “I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”
Whether it’s a moment of personal victory or a playful jab at her past, Serena’s Super Bowl performance was definitely a statement.
