Alexis Ohanian took the time for a little get-back when he recently appeared on the ESPN morning show First Take. Ohanian was there to promote his Althos all-female track meet in New York City, which featured the women’s triple jump competition live in Times Square.
After telling Stephen A. Smith and co-host M.J. Acosta-Ruiz about the meet, which brings the female athletes together to promote track and field in the United States and gives them another opportunity to make money, Ohanian decided it was his chance to check Smith for comments he made about Ohanian’s wife, tennis champion Serena Williams.
If you remember, Williams was a part of the 2025 Super Bowl LIX halftime show, which starred Kendrick Lamar. She didn’t rap or sing, but did the ‘Crip walk,’ a nod to her upbringing in Los Angeles’ Compton neighborhood. But some observers, including Smith, saw a dig at her alleged ex-boyfriend, rapper Drake, in support of Lamar’s Grammy-winning viral diss record “Not Like Us.”
“If I’m married and my wife is going to join trolling her ex, go back to his ass,” Smith said after the show. ‘Cause clearly you don’t belong with me. What you worried about him for and you’re with me? Bye. Bye.”
After the Super Bowl, Ohanian already addressed the meaning behind Serena’s dance on the global stage. In 2012, she was criticized for dancing after winning the gold medal at Wimbledon, with many disdainfully calling her out for glorifying gang culture.
“Some of y’all have no idea how criticized Serena was for this same dance at Wimbledon 13 years ago and it shows…. This is bigger than the music,” he wrote on X. He tagged Smith in the post.
But he hadn’t had the chance to confront him directly. At the end of his segment, Ohanian said, “Stephen A. Smith, I think you had some marriage advice for me, is that right? You hadn’t been married before, right? ‘Cause 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.”
Burn.
Hill had no answer for Ohanian, stumbling more than the veteran host may have ever stumbled on-air in his career. He acknowledged that no, he isn’t married and has no basis for offering advice. Acosta-Ruiz, who is married, deftly wrapped up the segment.
Williams has explained her ‘performance’ as nothing but her being caught up in the moment.
In February, she denied doing the Crip walk at Wimbledon (but she did, as you can see here.)
As for the Super Bowl, Wiliams said, “It was just me. I love to dance. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so happy, and next thing I know I started dancing and moving. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.”
See social media’s reaction to Ohanian confronting Smith below
