Serena Williams has revealed the real reason she avoided Taylor Swift at the 2025 Super Bowl , despite their longstanding friendship.

The tennis legend, 43, attended the February game at the Superdome in New Orleans with her husband, Alexis Ohanian , and their daughter Olympia.

Taylor was watching from a private suite to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce , and the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost the game to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Serena – who made a brief cameo in Kendrick Lamar's halftime show – revealed that she had every intention of seeing Taylor because she wanted to get Olympia an autograph.

"I'm such a mom," Serena told Time Magazine . "I was ready to go in here myself and be like, 'Taylor, come get this girl.'"

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However, as she approached Taylor's suite, Serena had a change of heart due to the Chiefs being dominated by the Eagles.

"It's hard when your team is losing," she said. "I totally get it. My husband and I, we're so in a different space.

"We're so connected, we're so in love, we're just, like, trying to get our daughter Taylor Swift autographs. And nothing else," she added.

Serena also thought it best to stay clear from Taylor after she was subjected to boos from fans when she appeared on the jumbotron.

"Why would you boo her? That's so mean. That's just awful," she told the outlet.

Even though Serena didn't see Taylor at the Super Bowl, she proved their friendship is still strong as she defended the singer after her frosty reception.

"I love you @taylorswift13 dont listen to those booo!!" she wrote on social media at the time.

Serena also addressed claims that her appearance during the halftime show was a dig at her ex, Drake.

She appeared on stage with Kendrick during his Drake diss track "Not Like Us", which led to speculation that she was throwing shade at the Canadian rapper after they were romantically linked between 2011 and 2015.

"Absolutely not," she told the publication when asked if she was firing shots at Drake. "I would never do that. And that was sad, that anyone would ever think that.

"I respect how they could. Obviously, I can see how someone would think that. But absolutely not," she added. "I have never had negative feelings towards him. We've known him for so many years."

Serena's husband rubbished the rumors at the time, writing on X: "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."

The Reddit co-founder was referring to the backlash Serena faced in 2012 after doing what appeared to be a crip walk as she celebrated beating Maria Sharapova for the gold, which most considered to be criticism based on racism.

Serena responded to her husband's post, writing on X: "Gosh I'm so late to the game (I've been sick) & busy investing in billion dollar companies and running @WYNbeauty…" before maintaining: "[Definitely] not dancing to be petty lol."

"I think I proved 23 times over (not counting 4 gold medals) that I simply don't have time for petty. All love and respect always nothing negative here," she emphasized.