Serena Williams Roasts Drake While Dancing To “Not Like Us” At ESPYs

In 2016, Drake hosted the ESPYs. He was praised for his performance and comedic timing. In 2024, however, Serena Williams made the ESPYs an anti-Drake affair. The tennis superstar took the stage during the event and addressed the elephant in the room. She was referenced (positively) in the diss track “Not Like Us,” and she gave the love right back to Kendrick Lamar by dancing to the stage in the middle of her speech. Serena Williams also suggested that Drake is going to have a difficult time living the song down.

Serena Williams was the host for the 2024 ESPYS, so the chances were high that she was going to make a joke about the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle. She didn’t waste any time. “If I’ve learned anything this year,” she noted. “Its that none of us should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar…” The song “Not Like Us” then kicked in, and Williams danced while the crowd looked on in delight. The real blow was dealt after the song came to an end, though. Serena Williams then used Drake as an example of what can happen when someone challenges K. Dot. “He will make your hometown not like you,” she explained. “The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re gonna Forest Gump him, seats taken…”

Serena Williams and Drake have a complicated personal history. They were seen together throughout 2011, which is when rumors swirled that the two were dating. Their friendship lasted several years, and the two allegedly left the 2015 US Open semi-finals together. Williams and Drake ended their friendship sometime before 2017, as the former married Alexis Ohanian and welcomed a child. Drake is believed to address the split in the song “Nothings Into Somethings.” The rapper also took aim at Ohanian in “Middle of the Ocean” from 2022. “Sidebar,” he raps. “Serena, your husband a groupie. He claim we don’t got a problem but. No, boo, it is like you comin’ for sushi.”

Serena Williams wasn’t a fan of Drake’s bars. Neither was Kendrick Lamar, evidently. He blasted Drake for talking badly about the tennis icon on the aforementioned “Not Like Us.” The bond between K. Dot and Williams tracks, given their shared Compton upbringing. “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither,” Dot spits. “From Alondra down to Central, n**ga better not speak on Serena.” Drake’s trash-talking came back to haunt him, and Williams just handed him another embarrassing moment on a stage he once dominated.