Whoopi Goldberg slams Stephen A. Smith for linking Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime cameo to ex Drake

Whoopi Goldberg grand-slammed Stephen A. Smith for linking Serena Williams’ 2025 Super Bowl halftime show cameo to her ex-boyfriend Drake.

“Why wasn’t it, ‘Damn, Serena was great’? Why is it about some ex-boyfriend she hasn’t thought of?” Goldberg asked her co-hosts on “The View” Tuesday.

“All you can think of is her ex-boyfriend? I don’t understand. Why would you even think it was [about Drake]? Why would you think she’s not smart enough?”

Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday's episode of "The View."
Whoopi Goldberg dragged Stephen A. Smith for claiming Serena Williams’ 2025 Super Bowl cameo had anything to do with Drake.The View/ABC
Stephen A. Smith on "First Take" Monday.
Smith said Monday that he would have divorced Williams for the stunt if she were his wife.ESPN
Goldberg, 69, insisted the tennis champion’s dance moment was a big opportunity and “not about Drake.”“She got a chance to do something she wanted to do, and she went and did it,” she said, “and instead of saying, ‘Damn, that was kind of great,’ you’re bringing it back to some old stuff.”

Smith, 57, was in the doghouse after saying he would have divorced Williams, 43, for Crip walking to halftime headliner Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss track “Not Like Us” at Sunday’s NFL championship game if they were a couple.

Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday's episode of "The View."
“Why wasn’t it, ‘Damn, Serena was great’? Why is it about some ex-boyfriend she hasn’t thought of?” Goldberg (left) asked on “The View” Tuesday.The View/ABC
Whoopi Goldberg on Tuesday's episode of "The View."
Goldberg insisted Williams’ halftime dance was “not about Drake.”The View/ABC
Serena Williams dancing during the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show Sunday.
“She got a chance to do something she wanted to do, and she went and did it,” Goldberg said of Williams, seen here dancing at the 2025 Super Bowl on Sunday.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

“If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass,” the ESPN analyst said on the “First Take” podcast Monday.

“’Cause, clearly, you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”

Goldberg pointed out Tuesday that Williams, who briefly dated Drake in 2011 and 2015, is “happily married” to Alexis Ohanian.

“Stop trying to make it about somebody’s man. It ain’t always about somebody’s man. It’s about the person. Forget all that other stuff. We do,” she said on the ABC talk show.

Drake in 2022.
Drake (seen here in 2022) and Williams briefly dated in 2011 and 2015.WireImage
Serena Williams dancing during the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show Sunday.
Williams did the Crip walk as Kendrick Lamar rapped his Drake diss song at halftime.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

Goldberg’s co-host, Sara Haines, chimed in to agree with the “Sister Act” star and said Smith had it all wrong.

“I think it says more about the security of the man in the marriage than it would about that because even her husband was like, ‘Pretty fantastic halftime show.’ Like, it was awesome,” Haines said.

Sunny Hostin explained that Williams’ dance was a callback to when the athlete received backlash for doing the same move while celebrating her 2012 Olympics victory.

Drake in 2015.
The “Hotline Bling” artist (seen here in 2015) has rapped about Williams in his music.Anthony J. Causi / New York Post
Stephen A. Smith on "First Take" Monday.
“Clearly, you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye,” Smith said of Williams.ESPN
“She took a lot of criticism for doing that,” Hostin said. “What she was doing was being her authentic self, an homage to her roots from Compton, and it was black joy and black excellence. You’ve got the greatest female athlete of all time coming out and enjoying herself.”“The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out that if Williams had meant it as a slight to Drake, it would be warranted, as she pointed out that the “Hotline Bling” rapper, 38, has been “coming at [Williams] and her marriage in his songs for years.”

“He’s taken digs at her husband,” Griffin added. “I don’t even know that it counts as petty when he’s been deeply petty to you and you’re just clapping back.”

Drake in January 2025.
Drake (seen here in January) has been beefing with Lamar since 2023.Getty Images
Serena Williams dancing during the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show Sunday.
Williams clarified that she did the cameo because Lamar’s team invited her, saying, “End of story.”Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

Williams herself has explained the meaning behind her halftime cameo — effectively shutting down claims that her moves had anything to do with Drake.

“When @kendricklamar and team called and was like ‘we’ve been trying to do something forever, what about this? We loved your crip walk at the Olympics after you won the gold medal.’ I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a superbowl? (Never) let’s do it!” she wrote on Instagram Tuesday.

“I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day,” she said, adding bluntly, “End of story.”