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There weren’t many topics that were off-limits when Tom Brady was “honored” at the roast Netflix organized for him on Sunday night, which turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining affair. However, there was at least one person who wasn’t a huge fan: Shayanna Jenkins, the ex-fiancée of Aaron Hernandez.
Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Randy Moss, and Drew Bledsode comprised the delegation of former Patriots players who made the trek to Los Angeles on Sunday night to poke fun at Tom Brady during what Netflix dubbed The Greatest Roast of All Time.
That list of former teammates who were in attendance obviously did not include Aaron Hernandez, whose Patriots career came to a shocking end when he was arrested for murder in 2013—four years before he took his own life in prison after being convicted of the crime.
However, he was mentioned on multiple occasions during an event where the participants didn’t shy away from addressing controversial topics. Edelman referenced the former tight end while discussing Gronk’s levels of male endowment, and Brady also invoked the wild saga when he got the chance to clap back at everyone who had some fun at his expense (Nikki Glaser also got in on the action during her segment).
While it’s impossible for Hernandez to take exception to those jokes, the same can’t be said for Shayanna Jenkins, who gave birth to his daughter Avielle in 2012 and had gotten engaged to the tight end around six months before he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
Jenkins (who has also adopted the last name of the man she posted about on Instagram as recently as a couple of weeks ago) spoke to TMZ in the wake of the roast and gave a fairly blunt assessment of what transpired, saying, “It’s sad that I’m trying to raise my children in such a cruel world.”
She stressed she’s primarily concerned with how the 11-year-old Avielle will react if she comes across any of the jokes, saying there’s only so much she can do to prevent her from being exposed to the remarks referencing “someone she viewed as her hero.”
It’s certainly an unenviable situation, but at the same time, it’s an uncomfortable conversation Jenkins and her daughter are going to be inevitably forced to address at some point.