Tom Brady got into it with reporters last week when he was asked questions about an appearance he made in Paul Rudd’s new Netflix show, Living With Yourself. Rudd has promoted the show quite a bit lately, including an appearance on Conan where he brought back his long-running bit where he showed off a clip from Mac and Me instead of the material he’s actually on the show to promote.
One thing he hadn’t done, though, was address the mild controversy that the show sparked by Brady’s appearance. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, Rudd’s show centers around cloning himself, which he did at a place called the “Top Happy Spa” in a nondescript strip mall. In the show, he runs into Tom Brady outside of this location, where he says he’s visited a number of times in the past.
“First time?’’ Brady asks Rudd’s character, to which he asks Brady the same question.
“Sixth,’’ Brady says, the joke being that Brady’s success is built on his clones.
The spa and its location, however, reminded many of the solicitation charges that were filed against Patriots owner Robert Kraft earlier in the year, in which, according to police in Florida Kraft, solicited sexual acts from a nondescript spa. Brady vehemently denied his appearance was a reference to that case, however, and admonished reporters who asked Brady about the similarities.
According to Brady, that scene was filmed long before Kraft was arrested. And Rudd seemed to back that up, expressing remorse about the perception many noticed when the show hit Netflix. Rudd appeared on the Howard Stern Show on Friday to talk more about the show and was asked about the Brady controversy. According to Boston.com, Rudd felt “bad” about how it was perceived.
“Even back when he had four rings or maybe even three, the idea that we would have a clone, and it’s the best version of ourselves, that they just do everything right, that they’re great — Tom Brady is the epitome of that,” Rudd said. “We sent him these scripts like a year and a half ago or something. And I was so touched. He got the joke of making fun of himself and his perfection, and he was like, ‘Yeah.’”
Stern set Rudd up to talk about the reaction in the media and on social media, and he was remorseful but still pretty funny about the situation.
“I had a feeling that I have never ever had in my life, which was: Oh my God, I feel bad for Tom Brady,” Rudd said. “This guy was throwing us a bone, he was doing us a favor, and he was kind of making fun of himself and his perfection. And then all of the sudden the Boston media…”
It’s a little unfair to blame the media for asking Tom Brady a question, especially when, out of context, it looks eerily similar to the Kraft situation. But it’s good to know that Rudd wasn’t trying to pull a fast one over on Brady with the appearance or how it was used. He only saves his acts of deception, apparently, for Conan O’Brien.
