Star NFL quarterback Tom Brady took a lot of flak for his crypto investments during a 3-hour live Netflix comedy roast on Sunday.
"The Roast of Tom Brady," which was recorded and is still available to watch on the streaming platform, featured a number of pointed jokes about Brady's affinity for Bitcoin and his ties to bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. And it didn't take long for the crypto jokes to show up, either.
Within the first five minutes of the comedy special, host and comedian Kevin Hart addressed what he cast as the elephant in the room.
"Now, right now, I know what you guys are probably asking yourselves. You're saying, 'Guys, why didn't we go to the Crypto.com Arena downtown? The reason we didn't go there is because we didn't want to remind Tom's fans of how much money he owes them," Hart said. "He fucked those people. Tom fucked those people."
Hart seemed to be alluding to Brady's time spent as a spokesperson for Crypto.com's former competitor, FTX.
It only feels fair to point out that Hart has had his own crypto mishaps. He recently sold his Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for at an 83% loss, and in 2019 was named as a defendant in a $7 million class-action lawsuit over the allegedly fraudulent ICO of crypto project FLiK.
Brady and his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, announced that they had taken an equity stake in FTX in 2021. The celebrity couple appeared in a series of commercials and at live events with FTX founder—and convicted felon—Sam Bankman-Fried.
But after the exchange collapsed, it was announced they had been paid their $30 million fee almost entirely in FTT, the official token of FTX that crashed spectacularly right before FTX filed for bankruptcy. Now, because of their work to promote FTX, both Brady and Bündchen have been named in a class action lawsuit from FTX investors and client that seeks to hold them accountable for encouraging people to use the exchange.
Several celebrities have already reached settlements, including Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and YouTube influencers Tom Nash and Kevin Paffrath. But Brady and Bündchen are still defendants in the case.
Which is why, perhaps, Brady appeared visibly unsettled when comedian Nikki Glaser ridiculed him for having done business with FTX.
Nikki Glaser is Cooking Tom Brady😂 #TomBradyRoast pic.twitter.com/expQl6QzEP
— DORTIE (@TonyDortie) May 6, 2024
"Tom also lost $30 million in crypto. Tom, how did you fall for that? Even Gronk was like, 'Me know that not real money.'," Glaser said. "Gronk actually does Bitcoin, which is where he just chews on a handful of nickels."
The "Gronk" she was referring to is NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, Brady's longtime teammate. At one point in 2021, Gronkowski announced that he'd joined Brady's Autograph NFT platform.