Alexis Ohanian Stands Up for Serena Williams’ Super Bowl Appearance Amid Jason Whitlock’s Critique

During Kendrick Lamar’s performance at the Halftime Show, Williams made an appearance and performed a crip walk on stage. Some individuals speculated that her act was a dig at Drake, whom she had reportedly dated in the past.

Ohanian took to social media to defend his wife by sharing a screenshot of an article where columnist Jason Whitlock had previously criticized Williams for her celebratory dance after winning an Olympic gold medal at Wimbledon in 2012. This sparked a heated exchange between Ohanian and Whitlock, with Ohanian strongly rebutting Whitlock’s remarks.

Ohanian thoroughly enjoyed the Super Bowl Halftime show and let the world know just how much he did.

On Sunday, he shared pictures showing his view of the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans as the Halftime show was about to begin.

In one post, Ohanian wrote, “Kendrick Bowl is about to Kickoff.” He later added, “Halftime show about to start and no one has left their seats.”

After Lamar’s performance, Ohanian gave his verdict, writing, “Pretty fantastic halftime show.”

Later, he reposted a gif the Los Angeles Golf Club shared of his wife, Williams, crip walking while Lamar performed “Not Like Us.” The post’s caption read, “Highlight of the Super Bowl.”

Although Ohanian enjoyed his wife’s Super Bowl Halftime show cameo, he wouldn’t have expected her to be criticized for it. However, several people bashed the tennis icon for joining Lamar to diss Drake while he performed “Not Like Us.”

Williams and Drake reportedly dated in 2011, but neither of them has ever confirmed their alleged romance, though Drake has targeted Ohanian in some of his songs.

Hence, when she danced to “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl Halftime show, some people felt it was her getting back at the “One Dance” rapper. One of those who did was sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, who shared his thoughts on the matter during an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take.”

According to Smith, Williams was wrong to participate in dissing Drake since she now has a family and reportedly dated him 15 years ago. He said, “You could say give her props. If I’m your husband, why are you up there trolling your ex?”

Smith then shared what he would do if he were Ohanian, saying, “If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his -ss. Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”

However, the show’s co-host, Ryan Clark, responded, “If you were with Serena Williams, you’re going to be a kept man anyways. Don’t start that.”

Williams’ Super Bowl Halftime Show cameo sparked a debate online, with many people sharing their thoughts, either bashing or defending the 23-time Grand Slam winner.

Amid the debate, Ohanian defended his wife by posting a screenshot of comments made by sports columnist Jason Whitlock bashing Williams for crip walking after defeating Maria Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics female singles tennis gold medal match at Wimbledon.

The sports commentator said then, “What Serena did was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church. Serena deserved to be called out. What she did was immature and classless.”

Ohanian also shared a clip from Lamar’s halftime show featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson, who portrayed Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam sarcastically exclaimed in the clip, “Oh no, no! Too loud! Too reckless! Too… ghetto. Mr. Lamar, do you really know how to play the game? Then tighten up!”

Williams’ husband wrote in the post’s caption, “Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows…. This is bigger than the music.”

It didn’t take long for Whitlock to respond to Ohanian’s post, and he had some choice words for the Reddit co-founder when he did.

The sports columnist wrote, “This is Serena’s husband, a true beta. He’s mad at me rather than the wife Crip walking and still thinking about Drake. Simp.”

Whitlock’s response elicited more reactions from netizens, further spiraling the controversy out of control.

However, Ohanian didn’t hesitate to respond to Whitlock and picked his words carefully as he did.

The multimillionaire wrote, “I get it—you’re 57, and life didn’t turn out the way you imagined. That kind of disappointment must be exhausting.

He added, “You’re the embodiment of peaked in high school, spending decades chasing validation from strangers through Likes and Digital Hugs, only to find that no amount of external approval fills the void. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Ohanian continued by sharing more words of wisdom with Whitlock.

He wrote, “Criticism only fuels your victim complex, reinforcing the comforting delusion that there’s some grand conspiracy against you and your “brave ideas”—when in reality, you’ve just got terrible takes. It’s a cycle: outrage, backlash, self-pity, repeat.”

Ohanian, who underwent surgery to remove a potential cancerous growth in his thyroid last year, added, “This is a lonely road. There’s still time to rewrite the ending — start by working on yourself first.”

Williams’ husband concluded, “You’ll find that if you wake up every morning trying to be a little better, a little more curious, you won’t have time for irrational hating — you’ll be too busy winning.”

Whitlock responded to Ohanian’s post by reposting it on Instagram and asking, “Why is Serena Williams’ husband fussing at me? Why not take it up with Drake?”

He concluded, “Don’t be mad at me because Serena can’t get over Drake. This makes no sense!”