Tom Brady Roast Proves Woke Is on the Run
Outrageous Netflix special draws little outrage, calls for cancelation
Remember comedy?
We used to embrace it without reservation, treating comedians like … comedians, not politicians who hold sway over our lives.
Tell a bad joke? Move along. Nothing to see here save the flop sweat on the stand-up’s brow.
The woke mind virus changed all that.
Now, comedians have to watch what they say for fear of “offending” a group or single person. It’s had a chilling effect on creativity across the board, but comedians have felt its impact the hardest. Dave Chappelle could have died after one armed audience member rushed the stage.
We may be leaving that cultural rot behind. Finally.
On the wider front, DEI policies and practitioners are coming under heavy attack. Some DEI advocates are losing gigs as their past malfeasance is exposed. Others are scrambling to rebrand their shtick to keep the grift going.
It doesn’t help that the same college snowflakes who decried insensitive Halloween costumes are now chasing Jews off campus.
Jewish UCLA student BLOCKED from entering his university campus by masked anti-Israel activists because he is Jewish.
Two masked activists block his entry telling him “Don’t try to push in. You’re an agitator don’t try to push in.” pic.twitter.com/xxIWwkDQGH
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 27, 2024
Meanwhile, some of the biggest names in comedy defy the woke bylaws to grand effect. Think Tim Dillon, Shane Gillis, Andrew Schulz and more. They work mostly outside the mainstream, connecting directly with fans hungry for laughter.
They don’t need Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” approval for fame and fortune. A good WiFi connection and YouTube channel will suffice, thank you.
Over the weekend, we saw the biggest sign yet that the woke comedy police have been benched.
Netflix’s “The Roast of Tom Brady” felt like a program circa 1994. The roast format demands comedians see the line and then cross it again and again. Except we haven’t seen many mainstream roasts in recent years.
The format faded from view as comics scrambled to keep their careers afloat.
The “Brady” affair proved as ferocious as any roast. Ever.
No rules. No boundaries. Race. Sexuality. Physical attributes. Dating. Marriage. Infidelity. Trans Americans.
Everything was fair game, with “Kill Tony” podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe dropping a nuclear bomb on the proceedings that won’t soon be forgotten.
And little of it can be shared here.
What happened next? More or less nothing.
It took several days for the far-Left Washington Post to register its outrage. “The Tom Brady Roast Was Cruel Misogynistic and Not Very Funny” read the on-point headline.
The Tom Brady roast was cruel, misogynistic and not very funny. https://t.co/z3pwffcwkt
— Jason Nark (@JasonNark) May 7, 2024
That misses the point.
“Funny” is always subjective, but the “cruel” gags were meant to be cruel. Not to mention “sexist,” “racist” and more.
“The View” squad flinched at jokes targeting Gisele Bundchen, Brady’s ex-wife.
'The View' star Ana Navarro criticized Tom Brady for allowing comics to joke about Gisele Bündchen during 'tacky' roast: 'Leave Gisele the hell alone.' https://t.co/VKcD3aNuQE
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 6, 2024
Everyone else was in on the joke and had a thick enough skin to “survive” the comic jabs. Brady didn’t sign up to the event fearing his feelings may get bruised. The only rule he set ahead of time was to avoid jokes aimed at his children.
Fair enough.
The Boston Globe chimed in, also a few days later.
This is exactly what Jerry Seinfeld was referring to. Is it possible the target audience of the roast was NOT the women who watch the view? Why must humor be acceptable to every single person? The very unfunny roast of Tom Brady https://t.co/zRjzmzyS88
— John DePetro Show (@JohnDePetroshow) May 8, 2024
“The Roast of Tom Brady” drew plenty of press. Some outlets noted how Brady cringed over a gag targeting Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Others reported that Netflix edited out the boos that rained down on Kim Kardashian when she graced the dais.
The performative outrage? Mostly missing. No hashtag campaigns or orchestrated efforts to shame Netflix for telling dirty jokes for subscribers eager to hear them.
The old rule still applies. If you find roasts deeply offensive, don’t watch them.
The Washington Post essay came days after the show aired, and it’s virtually alone in the media marketplace according to a good faith Google News search.
USA Today even told readers where they could watch the special following its livestream debut.
These outlets didn’t have the woke energy to rally ASAP, a critical part of our digital age. Plus, the more audiences distrust the press for its rampant corruption, the less power these “think” pieces hold.
The best part? The master of ceremonies.
Hart’s Revenge Sure Was Sweet
Kevin Hart did the honors, and his joy over the task at hand was palpable. This is the same comic who got canceled from hosting the Oscars in 2018 after his “problematic” jokes from a decade ago resurfaced.
He had the last laugh over the weekend. Literally.
How did Netflix and co. get away with it?
The streamer deserves some of the credit. Not only did it host the special on its massive platform, it has repeatedly stood up to the woke mob in recent years.
The pivotal moment came at the end of 2021.
Dave Chappelle’s “The Closer” dropped in the Fall, and the woke mob screamed in near-unison over the show’s so-called transphobic jokes. The press pounded Chappelle, considered the best stand-up comic and a critical darling until that moment.
Netflix employees picketed their bosses, demanding something be done about the outrage.
Netflix could have apologized and pulled the special from its lineup. Instead, the company’s CEO essentially told offended employees to pound sand.
Since then, Netflix invited Chappelle back on its platform along with other rebel comics like Gillis, Dillon and Ricky Gervais.
No apologies. Just jokes.
Last year, “Saturday Night Live” informally apologized to Gillis for hiring, and then firing him in 2018 for telling insensitive jokes. How? It invited him to host the fading showcase.
Stars are starting to speak out against woke bylaws, too. Most recently, Jerry Seinfeld slammed the “extreme Left” for taking the fun out of comedy.
This critic wrote “Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul” two years ago, partially hoping the noxious movement would be fading as the tome hit bookstores.
No such luck.
Today? The times may be a-changing. And not a moment too soon.
I am a black man and 1000% one of the snowflakes you are referring to and I enjoyed the roast. Yes it went up to the line but I don’t think it crossed it much if at all. I didn’t like the gay bashing jokes, but it’s not unexpected with a bunch of Gen X football bros. Honestly I was most surprised about the Jew jokes given the extraordinary tension surrounding the Jewish community right now.
The point you are missing is that this roast was much less offensive than prior events. In one roast from the 2000s, might have been the roast of Bob Saget, Nick Di Paolo said “Lisa Lampanelli has so many black men in her contacts, she calls her phone her sickle cell.” Then he proceeded to call the audience members who gasped “liberal faggots.” He got away with that, even though faggot is a slur/hate word that is not allowed anymore, and that sickle cell joke is not okay. An apathetic conservative white man who is not a friend of the black community making a joke about black suffering is not acceptable.
In the roast of Justin Bieber, Natasha Leggero made an awful joke about Ludacris and Kevin Hart not knowing their fathers just because they are black. The joke wasn’t even creative! It was something like “blah blah blah someone’s father…oh Kevin and Ludacris, at least they know who their father is unlike you!” Predictably neither of them laughed.
This roast of Tom Brady is not an L for the woke crowd, it is an absolute WIN! It proved that we have pushed society to be more sensitive to marginalized groups, and it proved that you can STILL be funny even though people like you insist that that is not possible. This is of course not a new phenomenon. I bet even you would object to some jokes that were told in the 70s and 80s. Comedy has progressed, and it will continue to progress despite the best efforts of the anti woke crowd.
This roast also was not a triumphant display of comedy having no limits. The ONLY joke that was objected to was a highly appropriate and funny joke about Robert Kraft’s illegal activity and prostitution scandal. We all heard Brady tell Jeff Ross “Don’t say that shit again.” How can it be that the one joke that crossed the line was a joke about a rich white man getting a handy from his masseuse? That is crazy! But it shows that the anti woke crowd and many people in power are just as sensitive when their buttons are pushed. Seinfeld was clearly uncomfortable with Dave Chapelle’s joke about Jews in Hollywood even though he didn’t want to say that outright and be labeled a hypocrite https://people.com/tv/jerry-seinfeld-says-dave-chappelles-controversial-snl-monologue-provokes-a-conversation/
It is very telling that I haven’t seen you or anyone else in the anti woke crowd call Brady out on ridiculous censoring of a joke which, unlike jokes aimed at marginalized groups, has absolutely no justification for being censored.
“Others reported that Netflix edited out the boos that rained down on Kim Kardashian when she graced the dais.”
.
I disagree with that statement. I didn’t watch the thing live, but a couple of days later. When Kardashian got up on the stage, I heard plenty of booing. I suppose it’s possible that they edited the amount of booing, but I know I heard plenty of it when I watched it. There was so much of it right as she got up there that she had to wait for it to die down.
.
Also, the people whining about the jokes about Giselle weren’t paying much attention to the aim of the jokes. Most of the ones that mentioned her were aimed at Brady being a simp, or cuck or whatnot and that she got one over on him by cheating on him. A lot of them also mentioned the martial arts instructor she cheated on him with and how the guy could kick Brady’s ass. Very little of the Giselle related jokes were actually mocking her in and of herself except perhaps jabbing at her for actually being an adulterer which I mean, come on, there’s no way that’s not fair game during a comedy roast.
I covered my eyes with some of the jokes, they were so bad considering the recent atmosphere. A lot of gay bashing etc. Much of what you would expect in a locker room. Even Ben Affleck’s and the role he played in the roast was spot on for the roast. It’s actually fun to watch all the simps dogging the roast or Affleck. The point Ben was making.
The comment above about if you don’t like a Roast, don’t watch a Roast, is the perfect summarization for everyone.
I know from my Children that no one can ignore anyone, especially if they say something you don’t like or agree with. For Comic’s that is just stupid. We love them because they are fearless in what they say. Don’t like what they say or said…don’t watch them. But the rest of us will.
All in all watch this roast (yes all 3 hours). Brady’s ending was the best.
I think it shows that these roasts mean nothing … everyone knows Brady is a legend … and very often jokes are just that – I know some people in our lives will use jokes to cut us down — I went through that in high school … but a joke doesn’t necessarily reveal the teller’s soul.
It’s not as simple as if you don’t like it don’t watch it. All of us base our values of right and wrong partially based on our observations of others’ actions, and jokes that make it sound like a certain identity is undesirable (like gay jokes), implicitly reinforce the idea that something is wrong with them and it’s okay to discriminate against them. These jokes are even more impactful when children hear them. I realized as an adult that I was homophobic as a kid, not because I sat and pondered things and decided that there is something wrong with being gay, but because I was influenced by the homophobia in American culture, and I didn’t even realize it was happening. Jokes are a big part of our culture as a society.
If people didnt tell gay jokes when we were kids, we could have progressed as a society to the more accepting place that we’re in now much faster. Why not skip the periods of unnecessary homophobia and suffering that happened as a result?
Didn’t watch it nor will I since I don’t have nf anymore – cancelled it THE DAY they announced the deal with the oblamas – but I used to LOVE the Dean Martin Roasts! Now those were funny and clean enough for broadcast television! I do recall the “ROASTEE” was given the HONOR of clapping back at all the “ROASTERS” in the end! Did Mr. Brady get a chance to engage in lighthearted banter with his comedic attackers? I’m glad Mr. Brady set the rule about his children, but it appears some went there anyway! Some jerks will always be jerks!
You can catch clips from it on Youtube if you’re interested. As mentioned in the article, in particular, if you can find the clip of Tony Hinchcliffe’s bit, it’s certainly incendiary, and also completely hysterical, at least in my opinion. Nikki Glazer’s jokes were also particularly brutal and damned funny as well.
We continue another gamergate, which seems never ending. Tran’s outrage continues to be the Left’s most ridiculous outrage. Antisemitism is the new Antifa. The irony is palpable. Racism, sexism, genderism, whateverism.