The tradition at comedy roasts is that nothing is off-limits, and the more offensive the joke, the better. And for the most part, Tom Brady was a good sport about it when he was roasted on Sunday night. But one joke appeared to genuinely get under Brady’s skin.
That was a joke at the expense of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his 2019 arrest on misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor.
Comedian Jeff Ross, who is notorious for his ability to offend even the most good-humored subjects at roasts, began his bit about Kraft by recalling the time that Brady, then a rookie sixth-round draft pick, told Kraft, “I’m the best decision your organization has ever made.
Ross then joked that Brady added, “Would you like a massage?”
Brady then got up out of his seat, approached Ross at the lectern, and said, “Don’t say that shit again.” Brady’s tone and expression suggested he was serious and didn’t consider it an appropriate topic for joking — even at a roast where everything from 9/11 to Aaron Hernandez’s murder trial and suicide were fodder for laughter.
Ross gave in to Brady and said, “OK, OK,” but Ross also pointed to Kraft in the audience and said, “He’s having fun, look at him.”
Everyone was having fun at the roast, but there were also jokes that some felt crossed the line, and for Brady, that line is apparently at making fun of Kraft’s legal troubles.