Kevin Hart on Tom Brady’s Netflix Roast Regrets: “What He Did for Our Climate of Sensitivity Was Necessary”

Kevin Hart addressed Tom Brady’s statement in the aftermath of his Netflix roast, believing the NFL legend wishes he had set some boundaries ahead of the event.

In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks posted to the outlet’s YouTube page on Thursday, Hart, who hosted the May 5 The Roast of Tom Brady Netflix special in which a variety of comics mocked and lambasted the guest of honor (and each other) with jokes that sometimes punch below the belt, spoke on Brady’s statements after the event. Appearing on an ESPN podcast, Brady said he wouldn’t have done the roast if he’d known how it would impact his kids at the time.

“When he says he regretted doing it … I think he’s saying, ‘I could have tapered it a little differently, or [had] a conversation pre-, of like, ‘Guys, let’s go and do this, but let’s not touch this or this,’” Hart told Rooks. ”The idea of going all in and just saying, ‘I don’t care, because I know the world would love to see me being on the receiving end of shit, because I’m Tom Brady, and I’ve been at the highest stage all my life,’ I think it was that.”

Hart and several comics like Nikki Glaser and Tony Hinchcliffe, along with pop culture personalities, including Will Farrell and Kim Kardashian, took to the stage to trash Brady or otherwise make him uncomfortable. The comic actor said he feels Brady did a service to comedy overall but conceded to Bleacher Report that he may have had an earful after the event ended.

“What it did for comedy and our climate of sensitivity, I think was necessary and of value,” Hart told Rooks, adding, “I can side with time and see where he’s coming from, and just him wanting to protect, the idea of family and the conversation attached to that. That’s probably where that’s coming from. And you know, I’m not privy to whatever he dealt with after, so I know his response and saying something about it was a result of possibly that.”

Hart added in the interview that as the host, he was the one who had the initial task of making the audience at home — which made it onto the streaming charts for the week, despite it only being up for a few hours of that week.

“If you really dissect the roast, I went out there and made people comfortable with the uncomfortable at the top of it,” he said. “I hit Tom. First I hit the audience, I hit the stage, I hit the people. I did it in a way where we’re still likable and fun and didn’t come off as malicious.”

And what about another go-around roasting an athlete?

“I would do it again,” Hart said. “But I need somebody at that level and somebody that’s OK with coming in and hearing the lay of the land.”