Tom Brady claims being roasted revealed the truth about his friends

NFL superstar Tom Brady opens around May 2024 Netflix a roast that caught everyone’s attention. During an interview with NBA legend Shaquille O’NealBrady revealed he wasn’t upset by the jokes made during the massive streaming event, despite reports claiming otherwise. In fact, the Super Bowl champion admitted that he “loves to be made fun of” and that being roasted by some of his closest people has reassured him that their friendship is real.

The three-hour roast included jokes about Brady’s messy divorce with Gisèle BundchenDeflategate, his time in the NFL and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Comedians at the event included Kevin Hart, Nikki Glaser, Sam Jay and Jeff Ross. A-list celebrities including Ben Affleck, Will Ferrell and Kim Kardashian were also part of the event.

Speaking to Shaq on “The Big Podcast,” Brady insisted that despite the headlines, he wasn’t upset about being roasted. “No, I wasn’t angry. I thought… because, and you would appreciate this too, I like being made fun of. Because when they make fun of you, you know they’re comfortable with you,” he said. “If they’re comfortable with you, if they make fun of you, then you know you’re really friends.”

According to Brady, being roasted by the people closest to him, like former teammates and coaches, has only proven that the love they have for him is real. “I think people who never make fun of you, they behave so well, I’m like, man, is this real or not?” he said. “Like, in a locker room, all you do is make fun of people. I made all the jokes about Gronk and Julian…everyone. That’s just what we do.” Brady further said that being part of the roast was more “fun” than anything else because he knew the participants’ intentions. “…all these guys doing this are your brothers,” he said.

During the Netflix special, Brady took some heat from his special guest list. At one point, Glaser whipped the audience into a frenzy after joking, “Tom Brady, five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns, you have seven rings — well, eight now that Gisele gave hers back.”

Glaser responded to his statement in an interview with PEOPLErevealing that she would apologize to the model if she ever saw her in person. “I mentioned her in a joke, which I questioned because she wasn’t there, and it’s like, ‘She’s not asking that.’ But then I remembered that she was the sexiest person alive and thought, “She can probably handle it.”

Glaser said she heard that Bündchen was unhappy with her joke. “I think comedy is always going to upset someone. And I think if I was her, I would have been annoyed too. So I give it 100 percent,” she said.

In the summer of 2025, Brady appeared on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast and revealed that he harbored some regrets about how the special went. Brady told the internet personality that the roast had a major impact on his children. “As a parent, there are certain things you screw up, and you don’t realize it until afterward,” he said. “We’re not perfect parents. You’ll see as you grow up that there’s no perfect playbook for this.”