Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show at the 2025 Super Bowl was quite something.
While performing some of his greatest hits, Kendrick was joined by Samuel L. Jackson, who narrated the show dressed as Uncle Sam, and SZA, who duetted their iconic collabs “Luther” and “All the Stars.”
Here’s a detailed breakdown of their beef, if you’re interested.
Kendrick performed his now-Grammy-winning hit "Not Like Us," during which he stared at the camera and grinned while addressing Drake directly. Moments later, the audience yelled his infamous "A MINORRR" line while Kendrick danced around in his fitting lowercase "a" necklace. Eek!
Well, the jabs didn’t stop there. While Kendrick rapped the song’s outro, the cameras panned over to none other than world-famous tennis player and all-round-icon Serena Williams, who, if you didn’t know, happened to be linked to Drake romantically back in the day.
Serena was filmed Crip Walking (a dance move that originated in her hometown, Compton, in the '70s) while Kendrick rapped the rest of his Drake diss track — in which Serena is actually mentioned, BTW.
In "Not Like Us," Kendrick seemingly warns Drake that he "better not speak on Serena" — an apparent response to all the times that the Canadian rapper name-dropped her in his songs. More on this in a second.
Serena’s brief yet notable appearance in the Halftime Show has reminded several internet users of her turbulent history with Drake, whom she was rumored to have dated around 2015.
If you didn’t know, Drake has referenced Serena in his songs multiple times over the years — including on his 2013 track “Worst Behavior” and his more recent 2022 hit “Middle of the Ocean,” in which he called Serena’s now-husband, Alexis Ohanian, a “groupie.”
What’s more, Drake recently revealed that his famous 2016 track “Too Good” — in which he raps about someone taking his “love” “for granted” — was about the tennis great, too.
It’s also worth mentioning that Serena Crip Walking at the show is reminiscent of the time she faced immense backlash for doing the same dance at Wimbledon in 2012 after beating fellow tennis player Maria Sharapova to secure gold at the Olympics.
Serena was scrutinized for performing the dance at the event, with critics suggesting that she was “glamorizing gang culture.” Notably, Serena’s older sister, Yetunde, was killed by a Southside Crips member a decade prior.
Sharing a video on X, formerly Twitter, after the Halftime Show, Serena joked that she’d have been “fined” for Crip Walking like that at Wimbledon.
“Man, I did not Crip Walk like that at Wimbledon. Ooh, I would’ve been FINED,” she laughed before adding, “It was all love.”
Serena also shared a video of herself getting hyped up ahead of the show. “Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died a little!” she captioned the clip.