3 min read
- Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian is feuding with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
- Stephen A. Smith previously criticized Serena’s appearance at the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime show.
- Alexis called Stephen out during an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
With all the controversy surrounding Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance—which isn’t even happening until February 2026—you might think that all drama around Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show is over. Wrong. In a bizarre turn of events, Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian and Stephen A. Smith appear to be working on a new celebrity feud, and it all started at the Super Bowl. Here’s what you need to know.
How did this Stephen A. Smith vs. Alexis Ohanian feud start?
We are currently in October 2025, but for you to have full context on this budding feud, we have to go back in time to February, when Serena appeared during Kendrick’s halftime performance, dancing under a street light. The moment was read multiple different ways, with some suggesting that it was a dig at Drake, who once dated Serena. However, others believed that Serena’s cameo was more substantive.
Serena’s moves at halftime echoed her celebratory crip walk dance at Wimbledon, which received racist backlash from commentators. Furthermore, Kendrick’s performance was a love letter to Los Angeles, and Serena—like Kendrick—is from Compton. It wasn’t about her ex (though I bet that didn’t hurt either). It was about celebrating her hometown.
Stephen A. Smith, however, didn’t get the message. Following the Super Bowl, he said he disapproved of the move. “If I’m your husband, I’m thinking, ‘Why are you up there trolling him—trolling your ex?” he said on First Take.
He continued, “If I’m married and my wife is going to troll her ex—go back to his ass. Because clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for—and you with me?”
Following backlash to his comments, Stephen clarified that he was simply “talking overall from a man’s perspective,” adding, “I didn’t utter a single disrespectful word about Serena.”
Alexis calls Stephen out First Take—eight months later.
It’s unclear whether or not Alexis responded to Stephen’s comments at the time (though soon after the Super Bowl, he *did* call out Jason Whitlock at Fox News, who referred to Serena’s dance “tasteless”).
However, eight months later, it’s obvious Alexis hasn’t forgotten what Stephen said. During an appearance on First Take on October 9, Serena’s husband took the opportunity to call Stephen out. “Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me?” he said.
Stephen was appearing remotely and seemed taken off guard. “Well, I did. You know headlines are headlines, but we can get into it another time,” he said, before admitting that he wasn’t “qualified” to give marital advice.
Alexis clarified that the ESPN host had never been married and added, “I give advice to plenty of founders who want to build billion-dollar companies. And the reason I do that is because I build billion-dollar companies. So I generally try to stay in my lane.”
Stephen responds to Alexis.
For some reason, Stephen then decided to double down on his original comments during his SiriusXM show. “Why that energy for an ex?” he said in part, summing up his initial reaction. “[If] that’s my wife, I don’t want to see that.”
Of Alexis, Stephen said, “I don’t know the man. I don’t recall saying a negative word about him.”
He continued, “I have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever wanting to address that situation with me. Because that’s her husband and I certainly meant no disrespect.”