Serena Williams and Drake may have been close at one point, but that didn’t stop the tennis superstar from mocking the OVO founder at the ESPYs.
Williams delivered an emotional six-minute monologue while hosting the 2024 ESPY Awards on Thursday night (July 11). She targeted Drake from the start and offered advice after his epic battle with Kendrick Lamar.
“If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us… none of us, not even me, should ever get into a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” she began. The song “Not Like Us” began to play and the Compton-raised sports legend limped onto the track.
Williams continued with another dig at Drake and more limping walks. “He will make your hometown less like you,” she added. “The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to think he’s Forrest Gump and the seats are taken…”
Serena Williams woke up to “Not Like Us” and clowned Drake on stage at the ESPYs 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/y3CUZGmYWO
— AJR (@ajr_bcg) July 12, 2024
Williams praised “Not Like Us” during a panel discussion at Essence Fest in New Orleans earlier this month. “I love that song,” she said. “It was like a summer pop. When they were playing the riff, I was jamming. That jam was jamming.
Drake and Williams are rumored to have been dating since 2011, although they have never confirmed their relationship. The speculation ended in 2017 when Williams married Alexis Ohanian, just months after welcoming their first child.
In 2022, Drake sang in the song “In the middle of the ocean,” calling him a groupie. However, Ohanian took this as a compliment, declaring himself “the best groupie for my wife and daughter.”
Still, K. Dot was unfazed, warning Drake that “it’s best not to talk about Serena in ‘Not Like Us.'”
