“The Greatest Roast of all Time,” directed at former NFL player Tom Brady, oriented laughs from everyone involved–except for Brady, who found himself unable to muster a chuckle at some jokes while under fire.
On May 5, “The Greatest Roast of all Time: The Roast of Tom Brady” aired on Netflix as a part of the annual “Netflix is a Joke Festival,” which lasted from May 2 through May 12. With over 300 performances from different comedians and celebrities, the main attraction of the festival was, unsurprisingly, the roast of Tom Brady.
Fans were curious as to how far the “roasters” would go to jab at the NFL star without ruining his career. Brady has had his fair share of “scandals” over his years as an NFL quarterback. Out of many things fans expected to hear, jokes about kissing his kids on the lips or his recent divorce were the most anticipated.
“We didn’t joke about the kid thing,” Nikki Glaser, one of the roasters, said to Variety. “Like that was a thing that we all chose … like, we’re not gonna make fun of the kid kissing thing, which is truly all I knew about him.”
Allegedly, the group decided to leave the former quarterback’s kids out of the eventall together, deeming that his kids don’t deserve to be embarrassed on live television. Topics that were on the table for the night did include the player’s alleged plastic surgery, as well as his infamous Deflategate scandal, which was recently brought back into the media’s eye after the release of “Four Games in Fall.”
“Remember Deflategate?” Brady said during the show. “The NFL spent $20 million and found that it was more probable than not that I was generally aware that someone may have deflated my footballs. You could have just given me the $20 million and I would have just told you I [did it].”
It is no secret that the NFL star went through a messy divorce with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen. This gave the hosts great material to work with. They made comments about her new boyfriend, as well as the nature of the couple’s divorce.
I liked when the jokes were about me. I didn’t like the way they affected my kids. I wouldn’t do that again because of the way that it actually affected the people that I care about the most in the world.
— Tom Brady
“Gisele gave you an ultimatum,” host Kevin Hart said during the special. “She said you have to retire or you’re done. But when you have a chance to go 8-9, you gotta do it.”
While mentions of Brady’s children were left out of the roast, the NFL star claims the event still had a negative impact on his kids.
“I liked when the jokes were about me,” Brady said on a podcast. “I thought they were so fun. I didn’t like the way they affected my kids. It’s the hardest part about … like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realize: I wouldn’t do that again because of the way that it affected actually the people that I care about the most in the world.”
Whether you love or hate Tom Brady or the nature of public roasts, it is clear that this quarterback took his hits like a Super Bowl champ.
