Pop culture was buzzing about two things on Sunday night: the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar and “The Roast of Tom Brady.”
The former has been all over social media for the last week, but the latter took over on Sunday primetime as it featured Brady, a Sunday night star for two decades, alongside a cast of characters that included his former teammates Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss, and Julian Edelman.
The roast was the first of its kind in years, as many of last night’s performers, including comedian Kevin Hart and renowned “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross alluded to many stars backing out of roasts in recent years.
The consensus Greatest of All-Time in the NFL did not back out, and nothing was off limits, with many taking shots at his recent divorce with model Gisele Bündchen and her affair turned relationship with her jiu jitsu instructor.
Kevin Hart demolished Tom Brady for his divorce 😭
pic.twitter.com/kWMC4fBaUI https://t.co/y7yMubMzze
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 6, 2024
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The show also brought out several other stars both in and out of football including Kim Kardashian, Peyton Manning, Ben Affleck, Brady’s former coach Bill Belichick, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
All the big names and the no-filter roast made the show blow up on social media — despite it not being aired on live television. It was live-streamed on Netflix.
I thought about attending the Roast of Tom Brady last night, but I did not want to Roast him for a 3rd time!!
— Eli Manning (@EliManning) May 6, 2024
The streamer has slowly been pivoting to more live-streamed events, and last night, it created what The Ringer’s Bill Simmons referred to as a “cultural event,” even though it was on streaming.
“The biggest winner was Netflix,” Simmons said on “The Bill Simmons Show” on Sunday. “Netflix, over and over again, figures out how to win … They just planned the perfect night. Somehow there’s no sports. It was the kind of live cultural event that barely exists anymore unless you have sports or award shows.”
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While Netflix has yet to commit to broadcasting rights for major sports properties like the NBA or NFL, it’s gearing up for a few big live sports streams including the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson in July. It will also broadcast WWE Raw in 2025, the first form of live sports entertainment that it will consistently broadcast on the platform.
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“We’re in the very early days of developing our live programming,” Netflix Co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos said during the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call last month. “There’s also something incredibly magic about folks gathering around the TV together in the living room to watch something all at the same time. We believe that these kind of eventized cultural moments like the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight are just that kind of television that we want to be part of winning over those moments with our members as well.”
Through this roast, the company was able to marry its sports entertainment strategy with its comedy strategy, as the streamer also features a ton of stand up specials. This roast was a highlight even as the streamer is in the middle of its “Netflix Is A Joke Festival.”
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