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Serena Williams shut down claims that her 2025 Super Bowl cameo was a dig at ex-boyfriend Drake.
“Absolutely not,” Williams told Time in a profile published Wednesday when asked about the rumors.
“I would never do that,” she continued. “And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that.”
The tennis icon, 43, admitted that she understands how people could jump to that conclusion.
“I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that,” she said. “But, absolutely not.”
As for where she stands with the “Passionfruit” rapper, Williams said she has “never had negative feelings towards him.”
“We’ve known him for so many years,” Williams, who reportedly dated Drake on and off from 2011 to 2015, said.
The athlete did the crip walk on the field during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime performance of his Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” (Williams famously pulled out the same choreography after winning the “Golden Slam” title in 2012.)
The Grand Slam champion admitted to the outlet that she wasn’t sure if she regretted participating in the performance after facing an onslaught of backlash.
One critic, Stephen A. Smith, went so far as to suggest that Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian should divorce her over the cameo.
“If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass,” the ESPN commentator said at the time, adding, “’Cause, clearly, you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”
But Williams wasn’t bothered by his hot take.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Williams told the mag. “He’s allowed to have his personal opinion. But did you see my husband’s remark? It was so eloquent.”
The Reddit co-founder, who shares two kids with Williams, responded by taking to X, simply writing, “This is bigger than the music.”
Williams insisted that she has more important things to worry about than getting back at Drake.
“And I’m like, dude, like, we literally are investing in the world, both of us,” she said. “We’re investing in women and in sports. This is literally the last thing on our minds. Come on.”
