Comedian Jeff Ross Was 'Hurt' Tom Brady Expressed Regret Over Netflix Roast — But He Thinks the Athlete 'Secretly Loved It'

Comedian Jeff Ross admitted to feeling "hurt" after Tom Brady expressed regret over his 2024 Netflix roast.

Ross, who famously clashed with Brady on stage during the live special, shared his disappointment over the athlete's comments, having hoped the former quarterback would view the event as the greatest night of his life.

During the live roast, Ross made a controversial joke about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, alluding to his 2019 legal troubles.

Kraft was charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting a prostitute following a sting operation at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla. Prostitution solicitation charges were dropped in September 2020 after a Florida appeals court ruled police violated Kraft’s constitutional rights by secretly recording inside the spa.

After the quip, a serious Brady got up from his seat, approached Ross at the podium and whispered directly into the microphone: "Don't say that s--- again.”

While the interaction shocked the audience, Ross later clarified the two had a great conversation afterward and that Brady was merely acting affectionately to protect a father figure.

Despite the star-studded dais and generally positive reception, the footballer later shared that he regretted doing the roast because it negatively "affected my kids.”

Ross — known as the Roastmaster General — jokingly and publicly responded to Brady's second thoughts, attributing the retired quarterback's shift in attitude to his divorce from supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

When discussing how Netflix has become a “de facto home” for roasts that used to run on Comedy Central, Ross explained to Deadline how the streaming giant is “providing a service” in a time when “late night shows are getting dinged” as comedians “are roasting the president, speaking truth to power, free speech.”

"I personally made it my mission to bring Tom back into this. I got him into it in the first place after he won that last Super Bowl. I said, “Now’s the time."

The comedian said he approached the football star gently, giving him unexpected credit for participating in the roast.

“Well, he said he regretted it, and that hurt because I wanted him to love it. And I had a feeling he secretly loved it and was just saying he regretted it. So I tracked him down in Vegas at the opening of our friend’s club, Zero Bond,” Ross explained.

He continued, "We didn’t even have Kevin [Hart] signed on officially yet, but I said, ‘Tom, this is your win. You brought comedy back. You ended the woke era in America by agreeing to be roasted the first time; you melted all this ice between you and Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick and your former teammates. You guys are all doing Super Bowl commercials now, and you just had this great induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame.’ All his teammates, they credit the roast for doing that for him, and he went on to get ownership of the team in Vegas and become this tremendous broadcaster.”

Ross continued, assuring Brady, “I said, ‘You’ll never hear another Gisele joke again. Take the win. You did this. We got an Emmy nomination. We won the Director’s Guild Award..."

A relentless Ross continued, pressing, “I go, ‘This is your thing, Tom. Come back and take the W.’ And I go, ‘And you’re going to want to come back.’ He goes, ‘Why?’ I go, ‘Revenge.’ He goes, ‘Who?’ I go, ‘We’re going to roast Kevin Hart.’ And he just turned his head like a puppy and said, ‘When?’”

Ross celebrated his victory, saying, “So getting him back and then it becoming this sort of celebration of free speech, that excites me. That’s something the country needs. This isn’t the Comedy Central edited roast anymore; this a live spectacle. Kevin’s saying yes and us laughing at him for three hours — what is it, 15, 16 million people that first week, laughing for three hours, forgetting our own problems and laughing at Kevin? He deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for that.”