Former New England Patriots star Julian Edelman has come under fire for a “horrible” joke he told about Aaron Hernandez during Tom Brady’s roast on Sunday night.
Brady’s former coach Bill Belichick, his former teammates, comedians and some celebrities took turns ridiculing the seven-time Super Bowl winner in a Netflix special hosted by Kevin Hart.
But some also made jokes about each other or directed their attention to other people in Brady’s life or career. One of them was Aaron Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end.
Hernandez committed suicide in prison in 2017 while serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of semi-professional soccer player Odin Lloyd.
But that didn’t stop Hernandez from being the subject of some very crude jokes on Sunday night and Edelman’s was the most controversial.
Julian Edelman has been criticized for a ‘horrible’ joke he told about Aaron Hernández
Hernandez’s former Patriots teammate Rob Gronkowski seemed stunned after the joke.
Hernandez committed suicide in prison in 2017 while serving a life sentence for murder.
Explaining that “everyone always asks me how big Gronk’s (Gronkowski) dick is,” Edelman continued, “Don’t get me wrong, it gets the job done.”
‘But there was another Patriots tight end (Hernández). Now they hanged him.
The joke was met with a shocked reaction from the crowd inside the arena as the camera panned to Gronkowski and Kevin Hart.
Gronkowski was speechless and covered his mouth with his hand while Hart appeared to laugh nervously.
Comedian Nikki Glaser also made an insensitive joke about Hernandez having “a ring around his neck.”
Hernandez’s ex-fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, the mother of his only child, he told TMZ that “it’s sad that I’m trying to raise my children in such a cruel world.”
The joke also didn’t go down well on social media, as viewers of the Netflix show were quick to condemn Edelman.
One wrote: “If you make a joke this dark, it better be funny.”
Another commented: ‘Laughing at a guy who killed himself for a cheap laugh. Fed up’.
‘Poor taste. Just horrible,” another added. ‘That joke was so rubbish. Unnecessary,’ another viewer said.
‘Where’s the fun part?’ asked another.
Viewers of the barbecue took to social media to condemn Edelman for his joke about Hernandez.
After his death, doctors discovered that Hernandez had a severe case of CTE brain disease.
After his death in 2017, doctors discovered that Hernandez, 27, had advanced chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to concussions and other head trauma common in the NFL.
Dr. Ann McKee, director of the CTE Center at Boston University, said Hernandez had stage 3 (of 4) of the disease, which can cause violent mood swings, depression and other cognitive disorders.
“They told us it was the most serious case they had ever seen for someone Aaron’s age,” attorney José Báez said in 2017.
Baez also said Hernandez had shown signs of memory loss, impulsivity and aggression that could be attributed to CTE.
In July 2019, Hernandez’s estate also settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the families of two men of which he was acquitted.
Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez shot and killed Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in 2012 after a confrontation at a nightclub.
Hernandez committed suicide just days after being acquitted of most charges in the double murder case.