Drake, Serena Williams Cole Burston/Getty Images;Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation
Nearly 10 years after Serena Williams’ rumored romance with Drake, the tennis pro turned heads — and brought attention back to their alleged relationship — by seemingly dissing the rapper throughout the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show.
Williams, 43, raised eyebrows on Sunday, February 9, when she danced on a grave as a part of Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. While her cameo was surprising, the indisputable fact that she joined the musician for “Not Like Us,” a diss track directed at Drake, 38, was much more shocking.
To grasp why, Us Weekly is taking all of it the way in which back to the summer of 2015 — and breaking down the sorted history between Williams and Drake.
Drake became a fixture at Williams’ tennis matches that summer, starting in England during Wimbledon, from June through early July.
Serena Williams shocked the audience when she made a surprise cameo on the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show with Kendrick Lamar. “Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died just a little!” Williams, 43, wrote via X on Sunday, February 9, alongside a video of her dancing while rocking her performance outfit, which included a blue pleated […]
The Degrassi: The Next Generation alum was spotted sitting next to Serena’s sister, Venus Williams, during her quarterfinal win over Victoria Azarenka in July 2015, based on reporter Ben Rothenberg via Bounces.
After her semifinal win against Maria Sharapova, a reporter asked Serena whether Drake was her “lucky mascot,” based on the Associated Press, which reported that Drake was in attendance for the press conference and laughed before covering his face.
Serena, meanwhile, reportedly told the press, “We’ve been friends for, like, so a few years. Identical to family.”
Although they played coy about their connection, Drake was a part of Serena’s player box when she won her sixth Wimbledon title later that month. He continued to pop up at her tournaments, appearing at Toronto’s Rogers Cup in August 2015.
It wasn’t until Drake attended the Women’s Tennis Association tournament in Ohio that August that fans began speculating that they could possibly be greater than just friends. Drake and Serena were spotted kissing at an area restaurant after the event, which fueled romance rumors.
Edward Berthelot/Getty Images Venus Williams is proving she’s her sister’s No. 1 fan after Serena Williams made a surprise appearance on the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show. “Lil sis killing it,” Venus, 44, wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, February 10, reposting Serena’s video from the performance. Venus also commented on Serena’s Sunday, February […]
Serena, for her part, had already met her now-husband, Alexis Ohanian, in May 2015 while they were staying at the identical hotel in Rome.
While Serena’s romance with Ohanian, now 41, continued to grow outside the highlight, her status with Drake remained a subject of conversation.
In reality, when Serena lost her bid for the Grand Slam in September 2015, the web blamed Drake. (Drake was in attendance when Serena played within the U.S. Open and lost, barring her from a Grand Slam appearance.)
“I blame Drake for this,” one user wrote via X on the time. A second user tweeted, “Drake jinxed Serena, man.”
The next month, Serena’s rep denied that she and Drake were romantically involved. “They’re simply longtime friends,” the rep told People in October 2015.
Serena quieted the rumors herself in December 2015 when she brought Ohanian as her plus one to simply accept the award for 2015’s Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the 12 months.
The tennis legend got engaged to Ohanian in December 2016 and tied the knot in Latest Orleans in November 2017. The couple share two daughters, Alexis Olympia and Adira.
While Drake became a father himself in October 2017 when he welcomed son Adonis with ex Sophie Brussaux, his rumored feelings for Serena have remained a subject in his music.
In his 2022 song “Middle of the Ocean,” Drake slammed Ohanian’s relationship with Serena. “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie / He claim we don’t got an issue but, no, boo, it’s such as you comin’ for sushi,” he rapped.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Kendrick Lamar brought his now Grammy-winning trolling of Drake to the most important stage conceivable on the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show on the Caesars Superdome in Latest Orleans. After months of speculation about his setlist, Lamar, 37, included “Not Like Us” in his performance, meaning that greater than 73,000 fans got to […]
Ohanian clapped back on the lyrics via X, writing in November 2022, “The rationale I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the best possible at whatever I do — including being the very best groupie for my wife & daughter.”
The Reddit founder added: “In @serenawilliams I discovered a partner I knew I’d never outgrow, who would all the time motivate me to be Greater.”
Nearly two years later, Drake brought his and Serena’s rumored fling back into the highlight when his 100 Gigs archival videos captured footage about his 2016 hit “Too Good.”
Drake name dropped Serena while speaking together with his mom in regards to the song, telling her in the throwback video, “I get heavy on a pair joints, but that is more about me and Serena.”
“I gather!” his mom, Sandi Graham, said within the clip which was published to 100 Gigs in August 2024.
Within the song, Drake sings a few one-sided romance, which he hinted was the situation between him and Serena. “It’s funny because after I make songs about women, I also make songs for them,” the rapper said on the time. “So, I do know what form of song to make. If I’m gonna discuss them, I’ll a minimum of do them the justice of creating them a song that they’ll like.”
Drake alleged, “I do know Serena thoroughly, and I do know that she’ll hear it loud and clear but not hate me for it since it’s lighthearted.”
Graham then asked Drake, “And he or she is seeing another person?” hinting she knew about their rumored romance. “I don’t know, mom,” Drake confessed.
Flash forward to February, when Serena looked as if it would clap back at Drake’s jabs through the years while siding with Lamar on the Super Bowl. (Lamar and Drake have been in an ongoing feud since 2013.)
“Let’s go Super Bowl halftime??! I died just a little!” Serena wrote via X after she took the sphere to bop to “Not Like Us.”
The song itself has ties to each Drake and Serena, as Lamar tells his nemesis within the track (which is widely considered Drake) that he “higher not speak on Serena.”
Serena previously commented on Lamar’s song while hosting the ESPY Awards in July 2024. “If I’ve learned anything this yr, it’s that none of us, not a single one in every of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” Serena teased on the time. “He’ll make your hometown not such as you. The subsequent time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken.”
