‘You’re the embodiment of peaked in high school’: Sports commentator calls Alexis Ohanian a ‘beta’ for defending wife Serena Williams—and instantly regrets it

Alexis Ohanian and sports columnist-turned-pundit Jason Whitlock are feuding after Whitlock called the Reddit co-founder a “beta” and a “simp” for defending his wife, Serena Williams.

The exchange began after Williams faced criticism for Crip Walking during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show performance, during which he performed his Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” Ohanian clapped back at detractors, pointing out that she was similarly criticized for the dance over a decade ago. Whitlock then took aim at Ohanian, mocking him for standing by his wife—prompting a scathing response that has social media buzzing.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Ohanian wrote, “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.”

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. pic.twitter.com/Xq4O96Yg0s

— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) February 11, 2025

In his post, he shared a screenshot of an article from The Week in 2012 after she had done the Crip Walk at Wimbledon to celebrate her win. The clip from the article reads, “Yes. Her dance was the height of disrespect: Williams ‘deserved to be criticized and she should’ve immediately apologized,’ says Jason Whitlock at Fox Sports. What she did ‘was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church.’”

Jason Whitlock is now a former sports columnist who currently hosts a program for the conservative media company Blaze Media.

Ohanian also included a clip from Samuel Jackson’s performance at the halftime show as ‘Uncle Sam’, where he admonished Kendrick and the other performers for being “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto.”

He then replied to a comment from X user @BillyM2k that read, “Jason Whitlock is one of the biggest losers to exist,” writing, “I get that faux outrage pays his bills, just now how I’d wanna spend my life.”

Whitlock quote-retweeted the Reddit co-founder’s post, writing, “This is Serena’s husband, a true beta. He’s mad at me rather than the wife Crip walking and still thinking about Drake. Simp.”

Alexis Ohanian responds to Jason Whitlock calling him a ‘simp’

The tennis champ’s husband wasn’t going to let that comment stand and clapped back in a long response to Whitlock’s tweet. 

Ohanian wrote, “I get it—you’re 57, and life didn’t turn out the way you imagined. That kind of disappointment must be exhausting. You’re the embodiment of peaked in high school, spending decades chasing validation from strangers through Likes and Digital Hugs, only to find that no amount of external approval fills the void. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“Criticism only fuels your victim complex, reinforcing the comforting delusion that there’s some grand conspiracy against you and your ‘brave ideas’—when in reality, you’ve just got terrible takes. It’s a cycle: outrage, backlash, self-pity, repeat.”

He finished by suggesting that Whitlock take this time to reflect on and improve himself. “This is a lonely road. There’s still time to rewrite the ending — start by working on yourself first. You’ll find that if you wake up every morning trying to be a little better, a little more curious, you won’t have time for irrational hating — you’ll be too busy winning.”

Serena Williams, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to be listening to the commentary on her dance but rather is choosing to focus on the experience of getting to dance at the Super Bowl with Kendrick Lamar. 

She quipped on her Instagram story, “Had I done this at Wimbledon, I would have gotten a fine.”

In one of her Instagram posts about her experience at the Super Bowl, Williams wrote in the caption, “When @kendricklamar and team called and was like ‘we’ve been trying to do something forever, what about this? We loved your crip walk at the Olympics after you won the gold medal.’ I’m like Super Bowl? Are you serious? When in the world would I ever be able to dance at a superbowl? (Never) let’s do it! I knew my winning dance after the @olympics would pay off one day. End of story.”

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A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams)

Internet reacts to Ohanian’s clapback

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