"Why are you asking me that… I'm done with that question" - When Serena Williams hit back at journalist who questioned her 'Crip Walk' celebration
Serena Williams' victory at the 2012 Olympics was famously commemorated with a celebratory jig. But it was not just any dance, it was the C-Walk or Crip Walk!
The "C" in C-Walk stands for Crip. The Crips are gangs based out of the coastal regions of Southern California. They popularized the dance years ago and the roots have been ignored over time. Serena Williams hails from Compton, a suburb around that area.
The incident occurred at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, moments after she swept aside Maria Sharapova in a little over an hour for the gold medal.
What may have just seemed like a dance to her, however, drew the ire of the media. Fox Sports, in particular, tore into the famed American tennis star.
"She was in the city of kings and queens. People were sipping champagne and eating strawberries and cream … and there was Serena crip-walking all over the most lily-white place in the world," wrote Fox Sports.
During the press conferences, they unequivocally stood by the fact that the dance did indeed have gang affiliations and questioned her if she had any remorse for doing it on the biggest stage.
"All people know that the crip walk is not just a dance," the questioner was quoted as saying.
"I was wondering, do you have any regrets doing it in front of everyone?" came the second," he concluded.
A baffled Williams quickly stamped her authority and hit back at the journalist for drawing assumptions. She firmly defended her celebration, reiterating that it was just a dance!
"First of all, it was just a dance. I didn't know that's what it was called," she said.
Williams then proceeded to berate the journalist for bringing her down and brushed his question aside with utmost disdain.
Second, why are you asking me that? If anything, you should be trying to ask me questions to lift me up not bring such things … I'm done with that question," she concluded.
Snoop Dogg defended Serena Williams' actions
Californian native and legendary rapper Snoop Dogg amongst others voiced their support for Serena Williams in the aftermath of the incident. He gave the tennis star a "shout-out" and willed her on. Snoop helped popularize the move back in the day.
"Shout out to Serena Williams. C walking at the Olympics Cpt style hahahahah! Go girl," he tweeted.
Others who came to her aid included Clinton Yates of the Washington Post who said:
"Where was all the outrage when “You Got Served” — a movie that prominently featured a C-Walking dance battle — came out? Is the C-Walk suddenly more taboo as a dance because it happened on the Olympic stage rather than in a second-rate movie?"
Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports calmed the air and dismissed any idea of Williams' celebration being anything but a dance move.
"This makes it seem like Serena crip-walked away from the Queen after stealing the crown jewels," he wrote. "She broke out the dance for three seconds, while looking at her sister sitting in the player's box! It's a dance move, not a political statement."