Serena Williams makes feelings known about husband Alexis Ohanian's clap back to Stephen A. Smith's questionable take on her act with Kendrick Lamar

Serena Williams recently broke her silence on Stephen A. Smith's criticism of her in the aftermath of her crip walk performance during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl LIX halftime act. The former WTA No. 1 and 23-time Grand Slam title winner went on to laud her husband Alexis Ohanian's response to Smith as well.

Time published an interview with Williams on Wednesday, April 16, to honor her inclusion in the distinguished magazine's list of 'The 100 Most Influential People of 2025.' During the interview, Williams was asked about her thoughts on what American sports television personality Stephen A. Smith said about her in light of her sensational Super Bowl LIX appearance on Sunday, February 9, this year.

At the time, Serena Williams performing the crip walk to Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' was perceived by many as a shot fired by the 43-year-old in the direction of Drake, her ex-boyfriend. This perception was further fueled by the fact that she danced to 'Not Like Us,' which is essentially a diss track Lamar wrote targeting Drake. Smith's perception was similar, and he brought up Williams' husband, Ohanian, without naming him.

"If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a**. Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye-bye," Smith said on First Take, an ESPN sports talk show.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian later responded to Smith via a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter). Ohanian served a reminder to the sports television personality regarding Williams' performance of the crip walk at Wimbledon after winning the women's singles gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. He also sent Smith a clip of Super Bowl LIX winners Philadelphia Eagles dancing to 'Not Like Us' following their victory.

Ohanian summed it all up with the following message:

"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."

In her recent interview with Time, Williams ridiculed Smith's criticism and praised the way her husband dealt with it.

"I thought it was hilarious. He’s allowed to have his personal opinion. But did you see my husband’s remark? It was so eloquent," Williams said.

Not long after turning heads with her crip walk at Super Bowl LIX, the former No. 1 shared her thoughts on what would have happened had she done it with the same intensity at Wimbledon.

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"I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon" - Serena Williams

Serena Williams performing during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show (Source: Getty)

Videos of Serena Williams' Super Bowl LIX crip walk didn't take long to go viral. The tennis legend later felt compelled to reflect on it. Williams opined that her 2012 crip walk at Wimbledon was nothing close to what she performed during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl LIX halftime show. She also suggested that she would have been financially penalized had she done it the same way at Wimbledon.

"Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon, I would have been fined," Williams said.

The 2022 US Open marked Serena Williams' final outing in professional tennis. She reached the third round of the prestigious hardcourt Major, but was surprisingly ousted at this stage by underdog Ajla Tomljanovic.