Legendary sports TV personality Stephen A. Smith has given his take on Serena Williams’ choice to crip walk to ‘Not Like Us’
Sports TV host Stephen A. Smith has given us his take on Serena Williams’ ‘Crip Walk’ during the Super Bowl halftime show.
Kendrick Lamar stole the headlines on Sunday night, giving the millions watching a show to remember.
The Los Angeles rapper had Samuel L. Jackson appear as Uncle Sam, while artist SZA joined him for a couple of songs during the performance, but another celebrity guest also made an appearance on stage – Serena Williams.
It’s well known that Lamar and Drake have been beefing since last summer, though the former arguably won with the song of the summer, ‘Not Like Us’, a diss track towards the Canadian rapper.
But as Lamar was rapping the popular tune, the tennis legend could be seen doing a ‘Crip Walk’ on the stage.
Williams, who reportedly dated Drake in 2011, was met with controversy for the move, which is associated with an LA gang.
The criticism only increased when it was found that the seven-time Wimbledon winner’s sister was killed by a Crip member in 2003.
While Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, defended her on social media, some members of the public didn’t approve of the move.
One of these people was popular sports personality, Stephen A. Smith.
Known for his loud takes on sports, he can occasionally chip in with his opinions on current affairs, even suggesting that he ‘might entertain’ running for President in 2028 for the Democratic party – though he later clarified that he had no plans to run (via Fox News).
Now, he’s given his thoughts about William’s appearance at the Super Bowl.
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Smith spoke on ESPN’s First Take about Williams’ decision to be a part of the song which dissed her alleged ex, and how she ‘Crip Walked’ on stage.
Talking about the incident on Monday morning (10 February), he said: “You could say give her props. If I’m your husband, why are you up there trolling your ex? If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a**, ’cause clearly you don’t belong with me.
“What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”
However, Ryan Clark defended the tennis legend, saying: “If you’re with Serena Williams you’re going to be a kept man anyway.”
Williams was previously criticised for doing the dance back at the 2012 Olympics after beating Maria Sharapova.
While one users online said they couldn’t believe she had ‘the audacity’ to perform the dance move, her loved ones have defended her.
Fellow tennis legend and sister Venus Williams hyped her up on her Instagram Story, writing: “Lil sis killing it”, also adding: “You did that!!!”
Ohanian previously wrote on Instagram: “Some of y’all have no idea how criticised Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago, and it shows. This is bigger than the music.”
Referencing past criticism, Serena herself responded in a Twitter video, saying: “Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon, I would’ve been fined.”
