Serena Williams takes subtle dig at ex Drake in Super Bowl halftime show

Serena Williams made a surprise cameo on stage during the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show and eagle-eyed fans notice an indirect link.

The 43-year-old retired athlete seemed ecstatic to join Kendrick Lamar on stage, who performed a diss track written about her ex-boyfriend Drake.

Williams took to Instagram after Lamar’s performance, on Sunday, February 9th, and shared her preparation ahead of the show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

“Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!,” she wrote in the caption.

In a separate post, the tennis star also shared a glimpse into her performance during the halftime.

Fans were pleasantly surprised to see the surprise cameo by Williams, and rushed to gush in the comments.

“Girl you killed it!!,” wrote a fan in the comments, while another added, “You ate that!!!!! Wimbledon memories!!!.”

Noting the mocking note in the performance, one said, “Ok I lied SERENA WILLIAMS doing a CRIP WALK on Drake's tomb (this performance) was THE BEST thing I've ever seen.”

“Serena Williams, Drake’s ex-girlfriend, crip walking to #TheyNotLikeUs is diabolical,” chimed in someone else, referring to Lamar's diss track about Drake.

Williams and Drake dated for a while in 2011 and the context added another layer of meaning for fans.