Tom Brady regrets Netflix roast because some of the jokes 'affected my kids' (2024)

Why it took Tom Brady by surprise that his divorce with Gisele Bündchen, her relationship with Jiu-Jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente and other parts of their private life would be the targets of numerous barbs during his three-hour Netflix roast is puzzling.

The only joke the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback took exception to during the “The Roast of Tom Brady” at the Kia Forum on May 5 was a reference by comedian Jeff Ross to New England Patriots owner Roberts Kraft being arrested in 2019 on charges of soliciting sex from a prostitute at a Florida day spa.

But upon reflection, Brady says he regrets the way the jokes affected his three children. He has a 16-year-old son with actress Bridget Monynahan and a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter with Bündchen, a Brazilian supermodel to whom he was married 13 years before they split in 2022.

“I loved when the jokes were about me, I thought they were so fun,” Brady said Tuesday on the “The Pivot” podcast. “I didn’t like the way it affected my kids. ... There’s the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way, then all of a sudden you realize, I wouldn’t do that again because of the way it affected actually the people I care about most in the world.”

He said he agreed to the roast because he’s an acquaintance of Ross, who is nicknamed “The RoastMaster General,” and looked forward to the gathering of former teammates, coaches, friends and celebrities. Many of the jokes were profane and of a sexual nature.

“You don’t see the full picture all the time,” Brady said. “It’s a good lesson as a parent. ... I’m going to be a better parent going through it. At the same time, I’m happy everyone there had a good time. If we aren’t laughing about things, we are crying.”

On the podcast, Brady talked about why as a child he looked up to his father, Tom Sr.

“My parents instilled a family value in us, and I just remember why my dad was my hero,” he said. “He’d get home from work every afternoon and say, ‘Let’s go to the baseball field and I’ll hit you ground balls.’ He never came home and said, ‘I’m too tired.’

“The only advice I can give parents is, whatever is most important to your kids, that should be your priority.”

And, Brady discovered, that would include avoiding repeated jokes about Bündchen, who a source told People magazine is “deeply disappointed by the disrespectful portrayal of her family on [the] roast.”

Those called upon to roast Brady — from host Kevin Hart to comedians Nikki Glaser, Will Ferrell and Ross to former coach Bill Belichick to former teammates Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss and Drew Bledsoe — agreed ahead of time that Brady’s children were off limits.

But according to Brady, the kids were offended just the same.

“When we are growing up, we want to fit in, to be part of the group,” Brady said on the podcast. “And I did that. ... Certainly, the group I most want to be part of is my kids. It’s us. What are my responsibilities and what are my values? And do my actions reflect what my priorities and my values are

“I wouldn’t do that again.”