It’s clear where Serena Williams stands in terms of Colin Kaepernick’s Nike deal.
On Monday, Williams, 36, tweeted a Nike ad of a young girl playing tennis that read, “It’s only a crazy dream until you do it.”
“Especially proud to be a part of the Nike family today. #justdoit,” she wrote.
The brand announced its partnership with Kaepernick, 30, on Monday with an ad reading, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
It has since been subjected to a slew of backlash and boycotts due to Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem, with some going so far as to burn their merchandise. Nike stock tumbled 3.16 points since the former NFL quarterback’s ad debuted.
Williams spoke further about Kaepernick’s kneeling to protest police brutality after her US Open win against Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday.
“He’s done a lot for the African-American community, and it’s cost him a lot,” Williams said in a press conference Tuesday night. “It’s sad. But he continues to do the best that he can to support. Having a huge company back him, you know, could be controversial for this company, but they’re not afraid. I feel like that was a really powerful statement to a lot of other companies.”
She added of his activism in general: “I think everyone has a choice to do what they choose to do. Whether they protest it, which is a peaceful protest actually, or not, that it’s the choice of being American. It doesn’t make them less American. And I think that’s also something that’s really interesting, is the fact that we all make up this world, because we have different views and different views on different views things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be loving toward each other.”
It wasn’t the first time she openly supported Kaepernick, who has been out of the NFL since 2016 and is currently waged in a collusion case that accuses the league and its teams of blackballing him.
“I think every athlete, every human, and definitely every African-American should be completely grateful and honored how Colin and Eric [Reid] are doing so much more for the greater good,” Williams told the Associated Press last week. “They really use their platform in ways that [are] really unfathomable. I feel like they obviously have great respect from a lot of their peers, especially other athletes, people that really are looking for social change.”
Williams isn’t the only A-list athlete apparently in Kaepernick’s corner.
Tom Brady liked several social media posts endorsing Kaepernick’s Nike campaign, while LeBron James posted an image of the ad on his own Instagram account.