Brady upset Netflix cameo seen as shot at Kraft
Tom Brady voices his frustration with those who thought his Netflix cameo was taking a shot at Patriots owner Robert Kraft. (1:08)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady explained his cameo appearance in the new Netflix comedy series “Living With Yourself,” expressing disgust Saturday with those who thought he was taking a shot at owner Robert Kraft.
The show stars actor Paul Rudd playing a depressed character who undergoes a spa treatment promising to make him a better person. In doing so, Rudd’s character learns that he has been replaced by a new version of himself. The show switches back and forth between the new and old version of Rudd’s character.
In Brady’s cameo, he is seen walking out of the “Top Happy Spa,” which is located inside a strip mall.
“First time?” Brady asks.
“Uh-huh,” Rudd responds. “You?”
“Sixth,” Brady says, smiling, in a reference to his six Super Bowl championships.
On Saturday, Brady grew angry when asked what he was thinking in filming the scene — the suggestion that it was a dig at Kraft, who in February was charged with misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution at a Florida strip mall.
“That’s not what that was about,” Brady said. “I think that was taken out of context, just like you’re taking it out of context and trying to make it a story for yourself, which has a negative connotation to it, which I don’t appreciate. It was meant to be something different than that. The fact it’s a distraction or you’re bringing it up is not something I want to be talking about.”
Brady explained that the scene wasn’t filmed at a strip mall.
“It was shot on a green screen,” he said, referencing a backdrop in filmmaking. “It was agreed to a year ago. It was written four years ago. Again, it’s unfortunate that people would choose to think I would ever do something like that about Mr. Kraft. I think that’s a very bad assessment of my relationship with him. I would never do that.”
Although the scene was written years ago, it wasn’t filmed until after the allegations came out against Kraft. Director Timothy Greenberg told Refinery29 that he thought Brady would pull out of the Netflix project once charges were filed against Kraft.
Brady relayed that he has yet to speak to Kraft about it, but he didn’t seem to think it was necessary.
“I think everybody knows what our relationship is about. For 20 years, it’s nothing but love and respect,” Brady said. “I’ve been through a lot of tough things with him. I love him dearly. I sympathize with a lot of things that he’s gone through in his life. I empathize with a lot of people that get taken advantage of and get used and understand that’s part of what we’re living in.
“… I think it’s this type of media atmosphere that you create. The blame-and-shame media atmosphere that has kind of percolated for a while. I think there is a lot of things that are said that are taken out of context that you choose to make a headline of, as opposed to understand what it’s actually about.”
Greenberg told The Wrap that the scene was written when Brady was fighting his four-game suspension from the NFL regarding deflated footballs.
“There was this implication that maybe he’s a clone and he’s cheating,” Greenberg told the website. “When I wrote it, he was 37 and had won four Super Bowls. And then by the time I actually make the thing, he’s now 41 and he’s just coming off his sixth Super Bowl win. So he became even more perfect.”