Tom Brady Joined Netflix Roast Because “People Are Too Sensitive”
Tom Brady had a unique motivation for joining last year’s cheeky Netflix live roast, as revealed by one of the roast’s hosts.
Comedian Jeff Ross, who cohosted May 2024’s Roast of Tom Brady with Kevin Hart, shared insights during his appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday, June 26.
“I noticed him checking out my Instagram on Super Bowl Sunday a couple of years back,” Ross, 59, explained. “I was like, ‘What the hell is Tom Brady doing on my Instagram?’ Then I thought, ‘Maybe he looks at jokes to chill before a big game.’ And he totally wins!”
According to the timeline, Brady, 47, was scrolling through Ross’ social media just hours before securing victory at Super Bowl LV in 2021 as the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“The next day, I messaged him on Instagram saying, ‘Dude, it’s roasting time. You clearly enjoy this stuff,’” Ross continued. “He replied, and we hit it off. It turns out my agent and his agent know each other, and we were able to finalize a roast deal. Netflix was all in!”
According to Ross, everything was set, but Brady later had a professional change of heart.
“He agreed, then retired, and we thought, ‘Let’s go! This is our shot.’ But then he unretired,” Ross recounted. “I was like, ‘No, we should pause until he’s done playing. It’ll be funnier.’”
Brady announced his retirement from the NFL in February 2022 but reversed his decision to play one more season with the Buccaneers. He finally declared his retirement for good in February 2023.
Ross mentioned that Brady’s personal life also affected the timing of the roast.
“Then he was going through a divorce, and I thought, ‘Let’s hold off for now,’” Ross noted.
Brady and his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, confirmed their separation in October 2022 after 13 years of marriage.
When the roast day finally arrived in May 2024, Ross recalled asking Brady, “Why are you doing this?”
“He said, ‘I love this type of humor. Folks are too sensitive these days,’” Brady allegedly replied to Ross.
Ross also shared receiving a text from Brady on the roast day that read: “No fear. This is what we do.”
Netflix’s inaugural live roast featured Brady getting humorously criticized by comedians like Nikki Glaser and Andrew Schulz, as well as celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Ben Affleck, plus former New England Patriots teammates Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.
“He deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for agreeing to do that,” Ross said of Brady. “He took the heat so we could all forget our troubles for three hours.”
