Celebrity Roasts have become a form of popular entertainment, where famous stars come together to humorously insult one another—particularly the one being “honored” with the gathering. Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roast show heightened the trend in the mid-70s and ‘80s, and the unhinged tradition is making another comeback in 2024.
Netflix recently aired the roast of former NFL player Tom Brady. Some parts of the show have become a hot topic on social media, specifically the booing of reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The origins of roast events may surprise fans, as it dates back to the early 1900s.
How did celebrity roasts become a thing?
In the early-to-mid 1900s, theater agents in New York met at the Friars Club, and while they had a good time, theatrical jokes and comic relief would often arise. These humorous get-togethers became more entertaining and helped raise money for World War I veterans. By 1949, the Friars Club made roasting a theme and formalized them as members and guest-only dinners.
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French actor Maurice Chevalier was the first official subject of the roasts, followed by Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball, and many more celebrities. The roasts remained a private affair, as the language used in these interactions was considered too vulgar for primetime television. However, some of the clips were aired on Kraft Music Hall in the late ‘60s.
Dean took up the roasts on NBC in 1973, making them more accessible TV entertainment while keeping the profanity to a minimum. In 1998, the former president of Comedy Central, Doug Herzog, collaborated with the Friars Club to broadcast their roasts, making them even more popular.
By 2003, Comedy Central began creating their own celebrity roast shows featuring the likes of Denis Leary, Jeff Foxworthy, William Shatner, Charlie Sheen, and Chevy Chase, who did not take his session light-heartedly. It has been nearly five years since the last roast aired until Netflix broke the silence with Tom’s 3-hour roast. As for the Friar’s Club, their decline is imminent; however, fans can still access some audio recordings of past events.
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