On Sunday, Feb. 9, 65,719 people piled into Caesars Superdome in New Orleans to watch this year’s Super Bowl 2025, according to the venue’s official count. The Philadelphia Eagles dominated, 40-22 over the Kansas City Chiefs, but the true victor of Super Bowl LIX was Serena Williams.
A huge swath of the Super Bowl’s audience could take or leave the game itself—they’re in this thing for the camaraderie, the ads, the halftime show, the drama. We knew the last category would provide, by virtue of having two of the world’s most-discussed individuals, Taylor Swift and Donald Trump, in attendance, but all-time tennis great Williams can add an accolade to her resume, right alongside those 23 career Grand Slams.
Serena Williams performs during the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show at Caesars Superdome on February 9, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Williams made an instantly iconic surprise appearance on the field during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, offering up a scene-stealing C-walk while he performed “Not Like Us.” It was a reprise of sorts for Williams: Lamar’s fellow Compton native did the same dance to celebrate her 2012 Olympic gold medal win at Wimbledon after she bested Maria Sharapova. Williams was criticized at the time for the move, also known as the “Crip walk” for its association with the gang of the same name, but it has become a common hip-hop dance move. “It’s just a dance,” Williams emphasized in a press conference in 2012. She hasn’t forgotten the backlash: In a video posted to social media after her performance Sunday, Williams commented, “Man, I did not crip-walk like that at Wimbledon. Oh, I would’ve been fined.”
And then there’s the Drake of it all, which can be summarized as “salt, meet wound.” Lamar’s song, which scooped up five Grammys a week ago, is, among other things, a diss track about the Canadian rapper. In a performance stuffed with Taylor Swift-worthy Easter eggs referencing Drake, Williams was one.
Williams and Drake were rumored to have been a couple in 2015, though they never publicly confirmed it. Drake was spotted at several of Williams’ tournaments throughout that season, and has said that his song “Too Good” is about her, and he also called her husband Alexis Ohanian a “groupie” on 2022’s “Middle of the Ocean.” Lamar’s “Not Like Us” drops the line “better not speak on Serena.”
“I died a little,” Williams wrote in a tweet of her Super Bowl appearance.
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