Forty days after announcing his retirement from football in February 2022, Tom Brady signed on to play one more year with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers ended with a losing record, and it was widely reported that Tom’s NFL return led to his divorce from Gisele Bündchen later that year. This was something host Kevin Hart gleefully joked about during The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady in May. “When you got a chance to go 8-9, and all it will cost you is your wife and your kids,” said the comedian, “you gotta do what the f–k you gotta do.”
The sad part is, Tom’s decision to participate in the Netflix special – for which he was allegedly paid $22 million – was another example of the quarterback, 46, putting himself first. “Tom’s roast was a phenomenal success, but Gisele says he basically sold out his family for an easy paycheck,” an insider exclusively tells Life & Style. “She is still furious and telling people Tom never took her or, more importantly, his children’s feelings into consideration. The hurt he’s caused his family isn’t going away anytime soon.”
It’s not as if Tom is desperate for money: He signed a $375 million, 10-year deal to be Fox’s lead NFL color commentator starting this fall, plus the seven-time Super Bowl champ recently merged his nutrition company, TB12, and his apparel brand, Brady, with activewear label Nobull, where he’s now the No. 2 shareholder.
While Tom was adding to his sizable fortune, his and Gisele’s kids – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – had to hear jokes like those suggesting their mom, 43, had begun a sexual relationship with her jiujitsu instructor boyfriend, Joaquim Valente, before she and Tom split. “How did you not see this coming?” Kevin, 44, jabbed. “Eight f–king karate classes a day and she’s still a white belt!”
The cruelty wasn’t limited to Gisele and her crew, either. Roasters also took shots at Tom’s ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan, whom the GOAT split from in 2006 before he knew she was expecting their son, Jack, now 16.
“Tom … you retired, then came back, then retired, I get it. It’s hard to walk away from something that isn’t your pregnant girlfriend,” dais member Nikki Glaser, 40, quipped on the show.
Shocked, Bridget, 53, reached out to Gisele after the special to commiserate, says the insider: “She feels bad for Gisele and the kids and told her so. They both agree that Tom was inconsiderate and careless and absolutely put them in the line of fire.”
After the fact, Tom said he regretted the jokes about his family and hinted he wouldn’t sign up for the “bittersweet” experience again. But that’s not enough. “He’s trying to make it up to the kids, Gisele and Bridget, but it’s an uphill battle,” reveals the insider. “Nothing he says or does can fix the damage.”