Serena Williams just made her Super Bowl 2025 debut—as a surprise halftime show performer, that is.
The tennis legend briefly joined Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar toward the end of his historic 15-minute set, appearing onstage in a cropped cobalt blue jacket, white crop top, and pleated skirt—all staples of her history-making tennis fashion as a Grand Slam champion. As in her tennis days, the pieces were custom-made by Nike, specifically from its Nike 24.7 collection. A stack of diamond necklaces, including a heart shaped pendant, glistened under the lights of the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans above her white top. And while the last time she appeared in a major stadium came with tricked-out Nike sneakers, she opted for classic blue high-tops this time around.
Williams's cameo in the political performance lasted for the blink of an eye, but it made an impact. She crip walked to "Not Like Us," Lamar's Grammy-winning diss track about the rapper Drake. Fans online speculated Williams had reason to take Lamar's side in their ongoing beef. She and Drake were rumored to have dated in the mid-2000s; late last year, Page Six reported his song "Too Good" was written about her. Lamar then referenced the song in "Not Like Us," rapping, "From Alondra down to Central—better not speak on Serena."
The tennis star had already made her appreciation for the track clear at another event. Hosting the ESPY Awards in 2024, she danced to "Not Like Us" several times during her opening monologue.
Of course, the duo has a connection beyond any mutual dislike of Drake. Both are proud Los Angeles natives from the neighborhood of Compton.
From Compton to NOLA. @SerenaWilliams @KendrickLamar #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/mnzuP7fJ1NFebruary 10, 2025
Cobalt blue tennis separates were part of a bigger picture on the Super Bowl halftime stage. All of the performers wore red, white, and blue—the colors of the American flag—to underscore Lamar's lyrics critiquing American politics and culture throughout the set. (Exact credits for Williams's look were not available at press time.) Other notable cameos included SZA (performing "All the Stars" in a lace-up red leather outfit) and Samuel L. Jackson (playing the role of Uncle Sam, narrating the show).
While Williams has made history on several world stages, her Super Bowl cameo offered an opportunity the pro tennis circuit never could. During her competition days, as X (formerly Twitter) user @notdanilu noted, the GOAT was lambasted in the media for crip-walking after a win at Wimbledon. Her performance was her way of reclaiming it boldly (and in a look similar to what she wore back then).
"Man, I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon," she said in a post-performance video shared on X. "Ooh, I would have been fined."
This post was updated to credit Serena Williams's Super Bowl halftime show look as custom Nike.
