Whoopi Goldberg Slams Stephen A. Smith’s Critique of Serena Williams

Whoopi Goldberg is not a fan of Stephen A. Smith’s critique of Serena Williams’ Super Bowl halftime show cameo.

“Why wasn’t it, ‘Damn, Serena was great’? Why is it about some ex-boyfriend she hasn’t thought of?” Goldberg, 69, asked on the Tuesday, February 11, episode of The View. “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?”

When Kendrick Lamar rapped his hit single “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 9, cameras panned to Williams, 43, who was crip walking on top of a platform inside New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome. (The dance was popularized by gang members in Compton, California, where both Lamar, 37, and Williams were raised.)

Some viewers like Smith, 57, were reminded that “Not Like Us” is a diss track aimed at Drake, who was romantically linked to Williams in the early 2010s. The duo, however, never publicly confirmed their alleged romance.

“If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass,” Smith said on the Monday, February 10, episode of First Take. “Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”

Goldberg took issue with Smith’s assumption that Williams’ appearance was strictly about Drake.

“She got a chance to do something she wanted to do, and she went and did it, and instead of saying, ‘Damn, that was kind of great,’ you’re bringing it back to some old stuff,” Goldberg said during the “Hot Topics” segment. “Stop trying to always make it about somebody’s man.”

Goldberg received the support from many of her fellow panelists, who praised Williams’ surprise appearance.

The View cohost Sunny Hostin believes Williams was redoing a dance she did at the 2012 Olympics after she defeated Russia’s Maria Sharapova to win the gold medal.

“She took a lot of criticism for doing that,” Hostin, 56, recalled. “What she was doing [at the Super Bowl] was being her authentic self, a homage to her roots from Compton and it was Black joy and Black excellence.”

Perhaps the one view that really matters is Williams’ husband’s, Alexis Ohanian. After the Super Bowl, the businessman seemingly reacted to the controversy surrounding his wife.

“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 via X on Monday. “This is bigger than the music.”