Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian explains why his wife's crip walk at Super Bowl is 'bigger' than the music; recalls Wimbledon controversy

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian came out in support of the tennis legend after her crip walk performance at Super Bowl LIX during Kendrick Lamar's controversial half-time show. Ohanian recalled how Williams was chastised several years ago for performing the dance at Wimbledon, and opined that overall, Lamar's Super Bowl LIX act went above and beyond music.

On Monday night (February 10), Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian took to X and shared a post. It featured a screenshot consisting of a blatant condemnation of Serena Williams' crip walk at Wimbledon after her women's singles gold medal triumph at the 2012 London Olympics. Ohanian's post also consisted of a brief video, which showed Uncle Sam as portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson at Super Bowl LIX.

The 41-year-old captioned the post:

"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."

The crip walk, to this day, remains a divisive dance routine because of its ties to gang violence, particularly in the Californian city of Compton, where both Serena Williams and Kendrick Lamar grew up. After performing a courtside crip walk at the 2012 London Olympics, harsh criticism came Williams' way.

For instance, Jason Whitlock, a reporter for Fox Sports at the time, wrote:

"What Serena did was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church. Serena deserved to be called out. What she did was immature and classless."

"Serena deserved to be criticized... Wimbledon isn’t the place to break out a dance popularized by California Crip gang members," he added later.

His colleague Reid Forgrave also chimed in later, opining:

"You couldn't help shake your head. It was as if Serena just couldn't seem to avoid dipping into waters of controversy even as she'd ascended to the top of her sport."

Williams had also broken her silence on the controversy.

"I didn't plan it, it just happened" - Serena Williams after Wimbledon crip walk controversy

Serena Williams in action during the women's singles gold medal match against Maria Sharapova at the 2012 London Olympics (Source: Getty)

Amid the wave of criticism she received for performing the crip walk at Wimbledon, Serena Williams expressed that it was her passion for dancing that prompted the act.

"It was just me. I love to dance. I didn't know what else to do. I was so happy, and next thing I know I started dancing and moving. I didn't plan it. It just happened," Williams told reporters.

Following her Super Bowl LIX crip walk, Serena Williams opined that had she done it with the same intensity at Wimbledon, she would have been fined.

Williams' crip walk to Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' at Super Bowl LIX was also symbolic in terms of the tennis legend's past relationship with rapper Drake. Lamar's tune is essentially a diss track aimed at the Canadian rapper, who briefly dated Williams in the 2010s before their relationship soured. Drake would later take swipes at the 23-time Grand Slam champion in a few of his songs.