The Moment
Tom Brady did what divorced parents have been doing since the dawn of social media: he turned the holidays into a soft-launch of his emotional status.
On Thursday, the 48-year-old NFL legend posted a Christmas photo on Instagram, wishing followers a “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” with all three of his kids gathered around him on a boat. Sons Jack, 18, and Benjamin, 16, and daughter Vivian, 13, are all there, casually bundled up, literally wrapping their arms around their dad.
Brady sits on the stern in a gray long-sleeved shirt, black shorts, white trucker hat and sunglasses. One hand rests on Vivian’s leg; Jack has an arm over Brady’s shoulders; Benjamin stands behind them, arms looped around the group like a teenage human seat belt.
He signed the post, “Sending our love always -The Bradys.” On his Instagram Story, he showed off a handmade gift that reads, “merry christmas to the Best Dad! WE LOVE YOU,” adding his own caption: “Love My Angels .”
Meanwhile, reports this fall revealed his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen quietly married her longtime jiu-jitsu instructor-turned-partner Joaquim Valente in November and “recently” welcomed a baby with him. So yes, the timing on Tom’s “angel kids” post? Interesting.
The Take
I don’t think Tom Brady rolled out of bed and thought, “Today I will make an extremely normal, not-at-all-symbolic family photo.” I think he knew exactly what he was doing.
On paper, it’s just a dad on a boat with his teenagers. In celebrity language, though, this is a co-parenting press release.
Gisele moves on, remarries, has a baby, and quietly starts her next chapter. Instead of responding with a tell-all interview or some sad-boy quote about “family,” Tom posts the world’s calmest holiday flex: I’m good, the kids are good, and we still sign as “The Bradys.”
It’s a little like when your ex shows up to the high school reunion with a new spouse and you show up with three thriving kids who still drink eggnog in your kitchen every Christmas. You’re not saying anything shady. You’re just… not not saying it.
There are a few layers here:
1. The boat choice. Nothing says, “My life did not fall apart in the divorce” like a serene boat shot. It’s relaxed, expensive-but-not-flashy, and completely removed from L.A. red carpets and Miami paparazzi sidewalks. It’s Tom’s favorite aesthetic: wealthy chill.
2. The “best dad” gift. Posting a handmade present that calls you “the Best Dad” is a move. Sweet? Absolutely. Also very much a way of reminding the world where the kids’ emotional home base is, especially as Mom is starting over with a newborn.
3. The “angels” branding. Calling them his “angels” on the Story softens the whole thing. This isn’t a clapback; it’s a halo. The message isn’t “look what I have that you don’t,” it’s “this is sacred.” Smart shift. Nobody wins long-term by dragging the other parent, especially when your children can read.
For those of us 40-plus watching this from the bleachers, this is very familiar: the post-divorce optics game where everyone is working way too hard to look like they’re not working at all. The difference here is that millions of people are reading subtext into a boat pic.
My read? Tom isn’t taking a shot at Gisele. He’s simply planting his flag: my identity now is Dad first, everything else second. When your ex is on Baby 2.0 with her jiu-jitsu husband, that’s not a bad lane to own.
Tom Brady posts holiday snap with all three ‘angel’ kids after Gisele Bündchen’s secret wedding https://t.co/snfiGL1TxC pic.twitter.com/3BzAUWWSiL
— Page Six (@PageSix) December 26, 2025
Receipts
Confirmed:
- In an Instagram post shared on Christmas week 2025, Tom Brady posted a photo with sons Jack and Benjamin and daughter Vivian on a boat, captioned with “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” and signed “Sending our love always… -The Bradys.”
- In follow-up Instagram Stories, he showed a handmade gift reading “merry christmas to the Best Dad! WE LOVE YOU” and added the text “Love My Angels.”
- Brady spent Christmas Eve golfing with Jack at a luxury course in the Bahamas, as shown in additional photos from his account.
- Brady shares Jack with former partner Bridget Moynahan and shares Benjamin and Vivian with ex-wife Gisele Bundchen.
- Brady and Bundchen’s divorce was finalized in October 2022 after approximately 13 years of marriage, according to court records in Florida.
- Entertainment reports and publicly available photos show that Gisele Bundchen, 45, married Joaquim Valente in a private ceremony in November 2025 and that the couple recently welcomed a baby together.
Unverified / Speculative (clearly fan or media interpretation):
- That Brady’s holiday post was intended as a “response” or “message” to Gisele’s new marriage and baby. He has not said this.
- Any suggestion of tension or conflict between Brady and Bundchen’s households over the kids’ holiday time. Neither has publicly complained or confirmed drama.
- Claims about whether one parent is the “better” or “preferred” parent, beyond what their public posts show.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
Tom Brady, widely considered one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, married Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen in 2009. They became the poster couple for “beautiful, rich, and annoyingly disciplined,” raising son Benjamin and daughter Vivian while Brady also co-parented son Jack with actress Bridget Moynahan.
By 2022, rumors of strain in the marriage centered around Brady’s decision to un-retire from football. The pair confirmed their divorce in October 2022, saying they’d focus on co-parenting. Since then, Brady has fully retired, moved into broadcasting and various business ventures, and leaned hard into the “Girl Dad / Family Man” branding. Gisele has quietly rebuilt her life, training and later dating her jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente, then reportedly marrying him and welcoming a baby in 2025.
So now we have two exes in their mid-40s, both famous, both building post-divorce lives – and very aware the public is grading their homework.
What’s Next
What I’ll be watching isn’t the next boat photo so much as the long-term pattern.
Does Tom keep pushing this “The Bradys” united front, or does the branding slowly shift as the kids get older and more private? Teenagers are famously allergic to being props, even for famous parents. If Jack, Ben, or Vivian start stepping back from Dad’s grid, that’ll say more than any caption.
On Gisele’s side, we’ll likely see more glimpses of her new blended family as the baby gets older, especially in controlled, polished posts. She’s been careful so far, but she also knows how to curate an image. At some point, there may be a big, glossy “here’s my new chapter” moment – a campaign, a magazine-style shoot, or a long-form sit-down about divorce, motherhood, and reinvention.
Legally, the heavy lifting is done; the divorce is finalized, and there are no public custody battles. That means what’s next is all about narrative: who they are as parents, exes, partners, and brands in their late 40s.
If they can keep doing what this Christmas suggests – no public sniping, just parallel lives full of kids and careers – they might quietly become the rare Hollywood divorce story that actually ages well.
And honestly, for anyone who’s ever navigated holidays with an ex and teenagers, that might be the most relatable thing either of them has ever done.
Your turn: When you see posts like Tom’s Christmas boat shot after a big ex drama, do you take them at face value as family moments, or do you read the subtext too?
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