Tom Brady made a cameo in a Netflix show recently that seemed like an incredibly obvious reference to Robert Kraft’s infamous day spa legal trouble, but the New England Patriots quarterback is pleading ignorance.
The clip, which has officially gone viral, was in an episode of Paul Rudd’s new Netflix comedy series “Living With Yourself.” It features Rudd’s character pulling up to a seedy strip mall day spa and debating whether or not he wants to go inside, at which point Brady comes out looking refreshed.
— Jim Murray (@bigjimmurray) October 19, 2019
Obviously, fans want to know two things — if Brady filmed the scene before or after Kraft was charged with solicitation of prostitution, and if Kraft had any say. Timothy Greenberg, the show’s creator and writer, told Shannon Carlin of Refinery29 this week that the show’s producers approached Brady’s people with the idea last year, and the quarterback was interested but wanted to wait until after the season. Kraft was charged with solicitation of prostitution as part of a sting at the Orchids of Asia day spa in Jupiter, Fla., during that waiting period, and Greenberg was stunned when Brady wanted to go through with the scene anyway.
So did Brady knowingly troll Kraft without getting permission from his boss? One source with knowledge of the situation told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that Brady was unaware the scene would be a direct or indirect reference to Kraft’s legal saga. Brady was approached to do the scene before Kraft was charged, so it wasn’t a reference to Kraft’s situation at first. However, he had to have known how it would be perceived after the fact.
A lot of people think Kraft should have just owned up to what he did from the start, though the nature of the investigation seemed a lot more serious when news of it first broke. Brady and Kraft have an extremely close relationship and Kraft has said he views Brady like a son, so it would be shocking if Brady didn’t consult him. Brady claiming he had no idea how it would be perceived is a tough explanation to believe, unless of course the writers and producers of the show misled him.
