Netflix’s “The Roast of Tom Brady” marked the exact event which finally saw real, actual comedy make a return to the mainstream.
Even those who had the highest of expectations for the roast were blown away by the edginess of the special.
Other than Brady’s kids (and his hair transplant), literally nothing was off limits – and it made for a classic, old-school night of laugh-out-loud comedy.
Comedians and former teammates took turns ruthlessly frying Brady.
They took shots at him for kicking his pregnant girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan, to the curb back in 2006.
“Tom, you’re the best to ever play for too long, you retired then came back then retired, I get it … It’s hard to walk away from something that isn’t your pregnant girlfriend,” comedian Nikki Glaser brutally joked. “To be fair, he didn’t know … He just thought she was getting fat.”
But that was absolutely nothing compared to how hard they went after Brady’s ex-wife Gisele Bundchen and the alleged events that led to their divorce.
“Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice,” comedian Kevin Hart said. “Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said, ‘You retire, or we’re done’ … Let me tell you something: When you got a chance to go 8-9, and all it will cost you is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*ck you gotta do … You know what that’s called, Tom? That’s called real sh*t. F*ck them kids.”
“The world knows that you left Bill Belichick high and dry, man,” Hart said. “You left him and then you went to Tampa, and you won a championship. You left Bill Belichick with Mac Jones … You f*cked your coach. But let me tell you something … That’s what you gotta do to maintain your happiness. You understand, you sometimes gotta f*ck your coach. You know who else f*cked that coach? Gisele. She f*cked that karate man.”
“What an idiot,” Hart continued. “I mean, Jesus Christ, Tom, one of the smartest quarterbacks ever played a game. How did you not see this coming? Eight f*cking karate classes a day … The only bruises she had were on her ass. Everybody should have known it.”
Brady’s former teammate Drew Bledsoe, who he famously replaced at quarterback, got his long-awaited dig out at the man who many feel (fairly or unfairly) is responsible for derailing his career.
“Two things I’ve experienced that you never will, Tom. Being drafted as 1st pick in the Draft and celebrating a 28th wedding anniversary. That was yesterday, Happy anniversary, babe,” Bledsoe joked to Brady.
Brady wasn’t the only one who caught bullets during the special.
Patriots legend Julain Edelman was one of the stars of the night and proved that he could dish it as well as he could take it.
“Remember when (Belichick) used to yell at us, “Look assh*les, the f*cking kids down at Foxborough High can make that f*cking play … I’ve been waiting for this for so long: Look assh*le (Belichick), Foxborough High’s the only job offer you f*cking had!”
Speaking of Belichick, he delivered a nice dig of his own, indirectly (but directly) aimed at Kraft.
“I’m so honored to be here for the roast of Tom Brady on Netflix, not to be confused with the roast of Bill Belichick on the 10-part Apple doc,” Belichick joked, referring to “The Dynasty” documentary.
Despite publicly denying it, Kraft reportedly had a great deal of influence over the documentary and purposely had Belichick portrayed as “the bad guy.”
While they played nice together on Sunday night, it would be foolish to deny that there’s still bad blood between Kraft and Belichick – and likely always will be.
One of the highlights of the night was when Kim Kardashian made an appearance.
Sure, she made a solid joke poking fun at both Brady and her stepdad – but the funniest part of her appearance was just how viciously booed she was when she took the stage.
As a matter of fact, she was the one and only person to be booed the entire night.
Unfortunately, Netflix made the decision – possibly at the request of Kardashian – to edit out the booing from the streaming version of the roast.
“It’s only a few seconds that have been cut out … Now, instead of Kim standing there and shooting a look at the crowd – with someone onstage telling them to settle down – it just seamlessly gets into her material with (Kim) taking a light-hearted dig at Kevin (Hart’s) height,” TMZ reported.
“Of course, the actual booing itself was clipped online and spread like wildfire – and just like everything else on the internet, it lives forever, so people certainly won’t forget about it,” TMZ correctly added.
Regardless, it’s not the best of looks for Netflix to edit out the boos.
No one is foolish enough to think that they made the edit to “save time.” … Clearly, Kardashian was annoyed by her predictable reception. Whether she requested (demanded) that Netflix remove it or not remains to be seen.
Perhaps Netflix felt the need to get ahead of it and just do it themselves without being asked.
Still, no one is going to let that one mistake ruin what was a spectacular showcase of true, genuine comedy.
Hopefully this Brady roast is a sign of things to come.
It not only lived up to the hype, it far exceeded it.
What are your thoughts on the roast?
Were you surprised/impressed by Brady’s ability to take all the brutal blows like a champ?
What about Netflix’s decision to edit out the booing of Kardashian? … Pretty weak, huh?
In the bigger picture, was this roast a sign that comedy is actually making a comeback???