Kim Kardashian Getting Booed At Tom Brady's Roast Is No Big Deal— But The Jokes About Her Just Weren't Funny
Crossing lines is fine, but only when the jokes actually land.
DFree / Shutterstock Football star Tom Brady took center stage on May 5, 2024, during a three-hour Netflix special titled “The Roast of Tom Brady.” The comedy event promised “Offensive lines” and “Full-contact comedy.”
Yet Brady was upstaged by a woman America just loves to hate: Kim Kardashian, who offered up her own shots at the NFL star, only to be met with loud booing and a litany of misogynist and racist jokes.
At this point in her career, Kardashian is no stranger to outright vitriol, yet the treatment she received at the roast highlights just how low people are willing to go for what they call comedy.
Kim Kardashian getting booed at Tom Brady’s roast isn’t a big deal, but the jokes made at her expense just weren’t funny.
As Kardashian went to deliver her first jab at Brady, she was cut off by the sound of the crowd booing. She stopped speaking and gave a look that could best be described as gentle frustration or staying cool under pressure.
The booing grew in force, at which point host Kevin Hart made a half-hearted attempt to quiet the crowd, exclaiming, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” though he didn’t seem to stop anything explicitly.
You don’t have to like Kardashian, her family, or the rampant capitalist mindset they channel in order to show a modicum of respect.
You can think that the Kardashian media legacy is overblown and past its prime, and still act like a person who doesn’t want to harm others.
As one fan noted, “At the end of the day, she’s a human being, and the booing was just very unnecessary… Just be mature.”
Yet the fact that Kardashian got booed for her appearance isn’t actually important. What is important is the way male comedians used her presence in a gross and grossly unfunny way.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referenced a line from the 2004 movie “Anchorman,” saying, “A whale’s vagina: That reminds me, Kim Kardashian’s here.”
Despite the fact that Hinchcliffe needed to rely on a 20-year-old joke as a basis for his own weak excuse of a joke, what he said next was even worse.
“She’s had a lot of Black men celebrating her end zone,” he continued. “Kim, word of advice: Close your legs. You have more public beef than Kendrick and Drake.”
What Hinchcliffe is doing here can be picked apart on multiple levels, the most notable part being the overt racism and misogyny he invoked to try and get laughs.
Roasts are meant to be bawdy, but there’s a distinct difference between being funny and cruel and not actually funny, at all.
The jokes made at Kardashian’s expense are a prime example of punching down, not up.
Punching down can be defined as making fun of someone whose social capital carries less weight than the person telling the joke. A man taking the stage and teasing a woman for a sex tape she didn’t actively consent to have released is punching down in a big way.
Brady himself displayed his own version of punching down by teasing Kardashian about Kanye West and how unstable her ex-husband’s mental health is.
One fan noted how Kardashian seemed to take control of the narrative during her time onstage, saying that most people weren’t acknowledging how “She bounced back and had the crowd laughing.”
Kardashian joked that her brief fling with Brady “Would never work out — an ex-athlete, high cheekbones, silky hair. You remind me too much of my stepdad now.”
Kardashian’s joke could also be seen as an example of punching down while holding a transphobic mentality, as well.
Part of what makes comedy is crossing lines. Yet crossing those lines is better served when it points out the inequalities that make up our social fabric, not relying on those exact inequalities for cheap, lazy laughs.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.