Within five minutes of the Tom Brady roast on Netflix, Kevin Hart was cutting deep. The beloved standup wasn’t only joking about the seven-time Super Bowl champ’s divorce from Gisele Bündchen.
He was talking about Gisele cheating on Brady with her Jiu-Jitsu instructor! “I mean Jesus Christ, Tom. One of the smartest quarterbacks ever played a game. How did you not see this coming? Eight f*king karate classes a day,” he quipped.
And that was one of the evening’s tamer remarks. Netflix’s three-hour Brady roast was obscene in every sense of the word, with comedians and Patriots legends tearing into the GOAT and each other with the ferocity of Gronk spiking a shot glass.
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But did they go too far?
To say that gay jokes were a theme would be a dramatic understatement. Most of Rob Gronkowski’s set was dedicated to remarks about Julian Edelman servicing Brady, complete with an unwieldy routine about Edelman performing oral sex on the QB from Boston to Tampa Bay.
“[Julian’s] nickname was the squirrel, because he loved having Tom Brady’s nuts in his mouth,” Gronk said. “And when Tom left for Tampa, he gave him the whole shaft!”
Gronk, who presents himself as a tequila-crazed, football-spiking meathead, has actually only made positive statements about inclusion in sports. Way back in 2012, the all-time great told Outsports he would have no issue with an out gay teammate.
“If that’s how they are, that’s how they are,” he said. “I mean, we’re teammates so, as long as he’s being a good teammate and being respectful and everything, that’s cool.”
But on Sunday night, his set would’ve even made Andrew Dice Clay blush. The same can be said for Edelman, who maybe told the most sordid joke of the show (the fact that I can’t definitively say whether it was the darkest one-liner shows how the night devolved).
Edelman was one of many presenters who referenced Aaron Hernandez. The former Patriots tight end was found guilty of first-degree murder and killed himself in prison.
“Everybody always asks me how big Gronk’s d*ck is. Don’t get me wrong, it gets the job done.” he said. “But there was this other Patriots tight end… he was hung.”
Unsurprisingly, everybody wasn’t a fan of the macabre d*ck jokes.
“If you’re going to joke about something that dark, the joke has to be funny enough to overcome how awful the subject matter is,” someone posted on social media. “None of these made the cut.”
Edelman also leaned into the barbs about his sexual subservience to Brady.
Like Gronkowski, Edelman has previously made comments supporting the LGBTQ+ community. When Carl Nassib came out, the three-time Super Bowl champ offered his congratulations. “Awesome moment. Spreading the love to the @TrevorProject very classy move,” he tweeted.
Of course, there was nothing classy about the roast, and many people would say that’s the point. Roasts of A-list celebrities are the opposite of a safe space. Brady and his teammates were brutalized.
And a lot of it was funny! Comedian Sam Jay, who identifies as lesbian, delivered one of the best sets of the night.
But there was at least one person close to Brady who wasn’t laughing: Gisele. The supermodel is reportedly “deeply disappointed” about the explicit jokes regarding their marriage and sex life.
It was also hard for us to laugh when Dana White, the bellicose owner of UFC, used his brief stint at the mic to exclusively make fun of gay and transgender people.
“Tom, you played for the Patriots for so long, that I was actually starting to feel like you were from Boston. Then I saw you run, and I was like, ‘No, he’s definitely from San Francisco,'” he said.
We know that good comedy is supposed to be uncomfortable. But did the Brady roast cross the line? Let us know in the comments below!
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abfab
…gronk
If that’s how they are, that’s how they are
abfab
…gronk
as long as he’s being a good teammate and being respectful and everything, that’s cool ( while I spend the whole year acting like a child)
abfab
…. roasts are supposed to go too far but they need better writiers
Donston
It just wasn’t funny. They were pandering to the “anti-woke” demo instead of actually trying to be witty or insightful or coming up with savage punchlines, which is what roasting is supposed to be about. It was just lame. But it’s about what I’d expect from this group.
ShaverC
The whole point of a comedic roast is to be crazy. People who do not have a sense of humor are not expected to watch.
abfab
Crazy-that’s what the C stands for.
Once again you are missing the point and since you
are not a very good writer, nevermind.
Phil
The roast was pretty funny. It’s not supposed to be palatable, or even safe. It’s a roast. It’s supposed to be shocking, vulgar, and nothing is off limits. The best part of the roast was the 8 minute set by Nikki Glaser. She killed it. If you want to see just that, skip to the 40 minute mark. It’s worth it.
DennisMpls
Jeez, I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Shaver – first time ever. But I’ve always given huge leeway to comedy when it comes to sensitive topics, crossing the lines, etc. The demarcation is when the jokes are obviously intended and overtly constructed to genuinely destroy and demean, as opposed to simply trying to be funny, and seeing who can one up the others on the bawdy/obscenity scale. Lines SHOULD be crossed in comedy, that’s one of its prime utilities. And roasts get special leeway, based on tradition, intent, and what should be a universal understanding of what they are all about. Which is why in most roasts, comics skewer the subject of the evening, often in raucus, seemingly offensive ways, and then finish with a brief positive comment, followed by the comic and subject hugging each other.
I thought much of this roast was funny. And I agree with the comment that Nikki Glaser was the best. The only person I had any issue with was Dana White, because he seemed to be relaying his well known obsessions and hatreds. When that is the goal the spirit of the occasion is being trampled upon.
dbmcvey
It’s a roast, roasts aren’t for normies.