Stephen A. Smithsaid he would sign divorce papers and walk out on his wife if she did whatSerena Williamsdid during theSuper Bowl 2025 halftime show.
The outspoken ESPN analyst said he wouldn’t be able to handle stepping into the shoes ofAlexis Ohanian, Serena’s husband.
“Clearly you don’t belong with me,” he said during a Feb. 10 episode of theFirst Takepodcast.
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Stephen A. Smith claimed he would divorce Serena Williams for her 2025 Super Bowl halftime performance
Image credits:Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
His remarks came after the tennis player made a special guest appearance inKendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime performanceon Sunday, February 9.
Both Kendrick and Serena have roots in the city of Compton.
The sports icon was captured crip-walking as Kendrick performedNot Like Us—theGrammy-winningdiss track that targetedhis rap rival Drake.
Image credits:NFL
When Stephen weighed in on the halftime show, he questioned why Serena was “trolling” her ex in front of millions of viewers.
“If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him—trolling your ex?’” he said.
The ESPN analyst said he wouldn’t be with someone if he caught them “trolling” their ex
Image credits:NFL on ESPN
“If I’m married, and my wife is going to troll her ex—go back to his a**,” he added. “Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for—and you with me?”
The sports correspondent highlighted that SZA—who joined as a special guest during Kendrick’s halftime performance—also dated Drake.
“You don’t get to tell a grown woman what she can or cannot do,” read a second comment.
“Her and her billionaire husband are laughing all the way to the bank!” a third wrote.
A fourth said, “Sad that they thought her dancing was about Drake, they missed the message.”
Drake, who was romantically involved with the tennis legend in the 2010s, said she inspired his songToo Good
Image credits:Prince Williams/Wireimage
Hollywood starWhoopi Goldberg also slammedStephen’s remarks.
“Why wasn’t it, ‘Damn, Serena was great’? Why is it about some ex-boyfriend she hasn’t thought of?” saidThe Viewco-host on the show.
She said she couldn’t understand why Stephen would bring back “some old stuff” and think Serena’s appearance had anything to do with the Canadian rapper.
Image credits:The View
“Why would you think she’s not smart enough?” Whoopi asked.
“Pretty fantastic halftime show,” said the Reddit founder, who has been married to Serena since 2017.
Alexis Ohanian, Serena’s husband since 2017, praised the Super Bowl halftime show
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Kendrick’s headline performance at the Super Bowl wasn’t the first time fans saw Serena dancing toNot Like Us.She crip-walked to the same track and roasted Drake during the 2024 ESPY Awards.
“If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us, not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” she said.
“He will make your hometown not like you, the next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re gonna Forrest Gump him, seats taken,” she added.
Image credits:Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Serena’s Super Bowl performance may have reminded some fans of another dance she performed more than a decade ago.
Shesparked controversyfor crip-walking while celebrating her gold medal after defeating Maria Sharapova at the LondonOlympicsin 2012.
The sports icon sparked controversy for a similar dance at the London Olympics in 2012
Image credits:Olympics
“It was just a dance,” Serena said during a press conference at the time.
“Man I did not crip walk like that at Wimbledon,” she excitedly said. “Oh, I would’ve been fined.”
“It was all love,” she added.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance,” Alexis wrote on X
Image credits:alexisohanian
In her Instagram post, Serena shared clips of herself getting ready for her brief but big performance during the halftime show.
It was the “best 10 seconds of my life,” she later said about hermoment in the Super Bowl spotlight.
When Kendrick and his team initially reached out to her, they said they “loved” her crip walk at the Olympics, Serena wrote in the caption accompanying the video.
“When in the world would I ever beable to dance at a superbowl? (Never) let’s do it!” she continued.
“I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day,” she added. “End of story.”
Alexis, who shares two daughters with the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, also acknowledged the Wimbledon controversy after the Super Bowl halftime show.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows,” he wrote on X. “This is bigger than the music.”
“ESPN should divorce him from his contract,” a social media user said about Stephen’s remarks
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