Tom Brady is used to getting slammed on the field and he was expecting to take some hard hits in Sunday’s “The Greatest Roast of All Time: The Roast of Tom Brady” on Netflix. But he nearly had a Will Smith moment when one joke seemingly went out of bounds.
His former New England Patriots teammates, his longtime coach Bill Belichick, a starting line of comedians and even actor Ben Affleck took turns blitzing the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback (or, as former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman called him, “Leonardo DiCaprio’s ex-girlfriend’s ex-husband”) at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California as part of the “Netflix is a Joke Festival.” Cracks about his divorce from Gisele Bündchen, Deflategate, Spygate, and his connection to controversial physician Alex Guerrero were all fair game.
Former Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe asked him, on behalf of what he said were most NFL fans, “Can you please stay (expletive) retired?” Comedian Nikki Glaser congratulated Brady on his seven rings. “Well, eight now that Giselle gave hers back.”
Belichick slammed Brady over English soccer team Birmingham City, which was relegated to a lower league in Brady’s first year as part-owner. “Not so easy running a team, is it Tom? Stick to American football,” he said.
Will Ferrell, in character from his role in the movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” told Brady he never liked him and he was a “dead robot of a quarterback.”
“You were just a sexy decoy,” he said.
Brady took the hits in stride for nearly three brutal hours. But it was legendary roastmaster Jeff Ross that finally got a rise out of Brady.
What did Jeff Ross say in the Tom Brady roast?
“Roastmaster General” Ross, known for his ruthless attacks, described a conversation Brady supposedly had with Patriots owner Robert Kraft after the quarterback was drafted with the 199th overall pick in 2000.
“‘I’m the best decision your organization has ever made,'” Ross said as Brady, to cheers from the audience. And then, “Would you like a massage?”
Laughter and groans filled the room to the reference to Kraft’s charges of soliciting prostitution in Florida in 2019. Ross blew a kiss, apparently at Kraft. Brady left his chair on stage to speak quietly to Ross at the podium, and the microphone picked it up.
“Don’t say that (expletive) again,” he said.
Ross nodded, smiling, and pointed toward Kraft. “OK, OK. He’s having fun, look at him,” Ross said.
Warning, there is explicit language in this clip.
What was Robert Kraft charged with in Florida?
In 2019, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, then 77, was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution at a spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with more than 250 other people in three counties.
The Orchids of Asia Day Spa where Kraft had been a customer was one of 10 shut down after being tied to an international human trafficking ring during a massive multi-county investigation. Women in the spas were being held in “sexual servitude,” according to arrest records.
The Jupiter police chief said they had video evidence of Kraft engaging in sex acts on two separate visits to a local massage parlor, including once on the day of the AFC Championship.
Kraft pleaded not guilty but publicly apologized, saying he was “truly sorry.”
“The last thing I would ever want to do was to disrespect another human being,” Kraft said. “I have extraordinary respect for women.”
After a county judge ruled two months later that the hidden video evidence was wrongfully acquired and inadmissible and an appeals court agreed in 2020, the misdemeanor charges against Kraft and the others were dropped. Jupiter police were ordered, twice, to destroy the video recordings.
Many of the people charged filed a federal class-action suit accusing Florida authorities of unlawfully videotaping them.
Where can I watch the Tom Brady roast?
The “The Greatest Roast of All Time: The Roast of Tom Brady,”, hosted by Kevin Hart and streamed live Sunday, May 5, 2024, is still available to see unedited on Netflix.
In the roast trailer, Ross warns Brady. “We’re coming for you, pretty boy.”
“I’m un-roastable,” Brady said. “Let’s go.”
