Serena Williams‘ surprise appearance at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime stage generated a significant buzz online as many sat down to discuss why she was there at all. Lamar, as the first-ever solo rapper to headline the coveted show, delivered an energetic performance of some of his biggest hits like Squabble Up, HUMBLE, DNA, and more. However, the highlight of the night was when he performed Not Like Us, his iconic Drake diss track that won him widespread fame. Much to the audience’s surprise, when Lamar brought Serena Williams to the stage, everyone erupted in cheers. While she only appeared for a few minutes, her unexpected C-walking became the star of the night.
Later on, on social media, many began discussing why she was involved and how he connected to Kendrick Lamar. Some fans were quick to connect the dots between the tennis star’s rumored past relationship with Drake and Lamar’s diss track for him. It turns out their complicated past connection played a huge role in the HUMBLE rapper’s decision to bring Serena on the stage of the Super Bowl halftime show.
Serena Williams and Drake Were Linked in the Past
The origin of Williams’ Super Bowl appearance is connected to a time almost a decade ago. Back in 2015, when Serena was ruling the court, rumors surfaced that she was “romantically involved” with Drake. The rapper was often spotted attending her matches and even spending time after as well. After she won the WTA Tournament, the pro-athlete was spotted having a cozy dinner with The God’s Plan rapper in Cincinnati. TMZ also got their hands on some PDA-filled snaps. However, the nature of their relationship was never really clarified, only giving rise to more speculation. An industry insider stated to US Weekly that they were more of in a “flirty friendship” than a hardcore relationship. According to sports reporter Ben Rothenberg, the whole thing was one-sided, with Drake being more interested in the tennis star.
Drake & Serena Williams were seen making out at dinner last night. pic.twitter.com/Kkp2tFeKxR
— YOUR MUSIC FIX (@YourMusicFix) August 24, 2015
Drake’s Diss at Serena and her husband
The same year, when Drake and Serena Williams were being linked together, the latter had already found the love of her life. In 2015, she had a chance encounter with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in Rome, and a few months later, they publicly announced their relationship. In December of the same year, the two were spotted together when Serena accepted the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year honor. A year later, they got engaged, and in 2017, they tied the knot at a lavish ceremony in New Orleans.
However, while she was settling down, Drake seemed to have taken it harder than he should have. Many speculated that some songs from his Degrassi: The Next Generation are loosely inspired by Serena. However, the real diss-track arrived in 2022. In his song Middle Of The Ocean from his album Her Loss, Drake had lyrics like, “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don’t got a problem but / No boo, it is like you coming for sushi.”
While the pro-athlete kept silent about the remark, her husband took the matter into his own hands. Sharing a photo of him with their daughter, Ohanian fired back, “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter.”
The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter. pic.twitter.com/oaEKuRWFnj
— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) November 4, 2022
Kendrick Lamar’s decision to invite Serena Williams to the Super Bowl halftime show was a final blow to his feud with Drake. Bringing out his rumored ex-girlfriend during the performance of a track aimed to diss him is something only Lamar can do.
