After Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in the Olympic singles and won gold, she celebrated by doing a Crip Walk dance.
The popular dance move has garnered Williams criticism with some viewers deeming it inappropriate for the Olympics. Williams said to press, "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."
Crip walking also known as "c-walking" is a dance made famous by Crip gang members in the 1970s but became mainstream. The Washington Post reported that MTV has actually banned any videos featuring the dance at one point because of its association with violence.
Fox Sport's Reid Forgrave criticized Williams on the dance, "She was in the city of kings and queens. People were sipping champagne and eating strawberries and cream. And Serena Williams had just ascended to the throne of tennis, becoming the second woman after Steffi Graf to win all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold in singles ... You couldn't help but shake your head. It was as if Serena just couldn't seem to avoid dipping into waters of controversy even as she'd ascended to the top of her sport."
Jason Whitlock, another Fox Sports reporter said, "What Serena did was akin to cracking a tasteless, X-rated joke inside a church... Serena deserved to be called out. What she did was immature and classless. She made a mistake, something we all do."
Serena, however, isn't bothered by the negative criticism. She said to Us Weekly , "I dont' care. That's the least of my worries . . . I'm so excited I was able to do the dance. I'm glad I did it!"
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