Stephen A. Smith is intensifying his criticism of Serena Williams’ unexpected appearance with Kendrick Lamar during Sunday, February 9’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Williams was criticized by the 57-year-old ESPN analyst for doing the crip walk on stage during Lamar’s performance of his Drake diss song “Not Like Us.” Drake and Williams dated in the beginning of 2010.
Smith maintained that Williams’ participation in the halftime show to ridicule Drake was improper.
The First Take host stated on the Monday, February 10 episode of the ESPN program, “If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass, ’cause clearly you don’t belong with me.”
Social media users reacted negatively to Smith’s position, with the majority supporting Williams. Smith took notice of one X user in particular, @MediumSizeMeech, who wrote, “A 57-year-old UNMARRIED man with a receding hairline who has never BEEN married mind you, saying he would divorce our greatest living athlete who has been happily married for 8 years to her very rich and loving husband—keep quiet forehead.”
On Tuesday, February 11, Smith added, “Please go back and look at exactly what I said,” after quoting the post. I was discussing things generally from a male point of view, emphasizing what most men would believe.
“I didn’t say anything disparaging about Serena. There’s nothing wrong with people getting outraged over real, important things that make you angry. People, this does not qualify. “Come on,” he added. We were on @FirstTake, making jokes. Oh no! It’s not that important.
His co-host Ryan Clark stated, “If you were with Serena Williams, you’re going to be a kept man anyway,” notwithstanding Smith’s comments regarding Williams, 43, and her husband Alexis Ohanian’s relationship. Don’t begin that.
“Alex is doing fairly well, in my opinion. Cohost Shannon Sharpe added, “You know he founded Reddit.” “I believe he’s alright.”
Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., Ohanian’s first kid, was born in 2017 after the 41-year-old and Williams initially met in May 2015. They were married in New Orleans later that year. Adira River Ohanian, their second child, was born five years later.
In the meanwhile, Ohanian praised his wife’s attractiveness following her unexpected presence. He posted, “Very good halftime show,” on X on Sunday.
“Some of you have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago, and it shows,” he continued on Monday. “This is bigger than the music,” the Reddit cofounder went on to say.
The 43-year-old Grand Slam champion famously performed a crip walk in 2012 following her victory over Maria Sharapova at the London Olympics. Following that, she received a barrage of racist criticism that labeled her actions improper.
Following her dance to Lamar’s Grammy-winning track, Williams posted a backstage video and gave a performance assessment. “Dude, I didn’t crip-walk at Wimbledon like that. “Oh, it was all love,” Williams claimed, adding, “and I would have been fined.”
