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Stephen A. Smith Not Happy With Serena Williams' Halftime Show Decision
Stephen A. Smith. Jim Cowsert/Getty Images

If told they would see a sports G.O.A.T. during Super Bowl 59, fans probably would have pictured Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady before Serena Williams.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made a surprise cameo during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show. Williams, who shares a Compton connection with Lamar, danced as the rapper performed "Not Like Us." The Grammy Award-winning hit song directly accused Drake, whom Williams used to date, of pedophilia, but Lamar didn't shy away from the allegedly defamatory lyrics despite a pending lawsuit.

Apparently, First Take ran out of material from the actual football game to fill the show. Stephen A. Smith took issue with one of this generation's greatest athletes showing up on TV for a few seconds.

"If I'm married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his a**. 'Cause clearly you don't belong with me," Smith said. "What you worried about him for and you're with me?"

Chances are Williams is not even slightly worried about Smith. Nor is her husband, Alexis Ohanian, an entrepreneur with a net worth of approximately $150 million. Ohanian celebrated a "pretty fantastic halftime show" after his wife's appearance.

Nobody else on the First Take panel shared Smith's objections. 

"I think Alex is doing pretty well," Shannon Sharpe told Smith. "You know he founded Reddit and he sold Reddit for a good chunk of change. I think he OK."

Ryan Clark also told Smith to stop, saying anyone with Williams would be a "kept man" anyway.

Meanwhile, Dan Orlovsky had his hand raised for about two minutes before admitting that he didn't know Williams dated Drake. He also cracked up his colleagues with another Super Bowl Halftime Show observation.

"I had one of my boys text me last night and he said, 'I wish it would have been Morgan Wallen or Zach Bryan,'" Orlovsky recalled. "And I was like, 'You are so white.'" 

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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