Tom Brady Roasted Over FTX Controversy at Netflix Special

"Former pro footballer Tom Brady was grilled by comedians and former teammates at a Netflix-streamed roast, and quips about his role in promoting the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX were some of the most viral to emerge on social media."

On May 6, Netflix's "The Roast of Tom Brady" took place, featuring the retired NFL star as the subject of jokes about his career, his 2021 divorce from Giselle Bündchen, and various other difficult points in his life.

In his opening monologue, comedian and roast host Kevin Hart took jabs at Brady for his involvement with FTX, questioning why the event was at the Kia Forum Arena in Inglewood instead of the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

"Most of you guys are probably sitting there, saying to yourself, 'Guys, why couldn't we have been at the Crypto.com Arena downtown?'" Hart quipped.

"Well, the reason we didn't go there is that we didn't want to remind Tom's fans of the huge amount of money he owes them. He fucked those people. Tom fucked those people. Fucked them up real good, didn't he?"

Later, comedian Nikki Glaser piled on Brady, saying, "Tom also lost $30 million in crypto. How did you fall for that?"

"I mean, even Gronk was like, 'Me know that's not real money,'" Glaser added, taking a jab at Brady's former teammate Rob Gronkowski, who is frequently targeted in jokes about his intelligence.

Brady and Bündchen, along with several other high-profile athletes and celebrities, were named in a class-action lawsuit over allegations of profiting from promoting FTX following the exchange's collapse in November 2022.

Brady and Bündchen took an equity stake in FTX in 2021. Brady was reportedly set to receive around $30 million in FTX shares to promote the exchange and work with its now-jailed founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after revelations that the exchange's top executives had diverted customer deposits to fund trading activity, leaving a multi-billion dollar hole in its books.

Throughout 2021, Brady remained involved in the crypto industry. On April 7, he announced plans to launch his own non-fungible token (NFT) platform.

That project had to "shift its focus" in 2023 due to declining interest in NFTs and the platform more broadly, according to a July 2023 New York Times report.