Serena Williams Adamant Super Bowl Dance Wasn't Drake Shade

Serena Williams says her now-famous Super Bowl dance was "absolutely not" shade aimed at her ex, Drake.

The tennis legend was adamant during a recent interview with Time that her brief appearance at Kendrick Lamar's halftime show during the Eagles vs. Chiefs championship tilt was merely meant to be a shoutout to her hometown -- and nothing more.

The Compton native insisted she "would never" take a shot at Drake like that ... calling those who thought it was a diss "sad."

"Obviously I can see how someone would think that," she told the outlet for their world's most influential people edition. "But absolutely not. I have never had negative feelings towards him. We’ve known him for so many years."

Williams came out of a tunnel at the Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9 as Lamar was performing his Drake diss track, "Not Like Us." She eventually took a spot on a podium near the rapper, and crip walked for several seconds as Lamar crooned about his nemesis.

Williams is now the second member of her household who's denying that her appearance was about Drake -- her husband, Alexis Ohanian, previously called the matter "bigger than the music."

"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 in the days after the show.

Serena also took aim at critics -- including Stephen A. Smith -- who stated Ohanian should have been upset with her for her role in the Big Game's halftime party.

"We’re investing in women and in sports," she said of her and her hubby. "This is literally the last thing on our minds. Come on."