Every now and then you’ll run across the argument that “woke-ism is dead,” or “political correctness is dead,” and those statements rarely seem to be accurate for long.

But something unusual is occurring in the aftermath of Netflix’s roast of Tom Brady.

Certain portions of the program were hilarious, particularly if you’ve been rooting against Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots for decades. Many parts were spectacularly crude and filthy, and whole segments featured scathing and outrageous gay jokes, trans jokes, black jokes, white jokes, sex jokes, male anatomy jokes, female anatomy jokes – just about everything that the modern left deems “inappropriate,” “problematic” and politically incorrect. From where I sit, some jokes went so far over the line that they need to be tracked with the Hubble Space telescope, including all the ones about former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 and who hung himself in 2017.

Let give you an example of one of the cleaner ones, told by former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe. In the second game of the 2001 season, New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis leveled Bledsoe on a hard but clean hit, knocking Bledsoe out of the game. Brady came in at quarterback for the Patriots, starting his legendary career. A lot of Bledsoe’s routine joked about how he was quickly forgotten the moment Brady excelled.

“Hey look, buddy, you have more rings than I do, but I’ve experienced a couple of things that you will never experience,” said Bledsoe. “The feeling of being the number one overall draft pick in the NFL.” This brought some chuckles, as Brady was famously not picked until the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft.

Then Bledsoe added, “…and a 28th wedding anniversary.”

Yes, there were a lot of jokes about Brady’s ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and the reports that she’s now involved with her Jiujitsu instructor. She was not in attendance, and she’s reportedly ‘deeply disappointed” with the jokes about her.

Sure, the Netflix special is getting criticized in some quarters as “cruel” and “unfunny.” But at least as of this writing, no one – not the comedians like Kevin Hart, Jeff Ross or Nikki Glaser, not former athletes like Brady or Rob Gronkowski or Randy Moss, not coaches like Belichick* – is facing any real danger of being “canceled” or suffering any serious career consequences for their spectacularly off-color, often tasteless, and indisputably controversial jokes. You’re unlikely to see Gronkowski losing his AARP endorsement gig because his near-pornographic descriptions of his teammates having sex.

So, just as woke outrage had minimal career consequences for the likes of Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld, etc. in recent years, Sunday night’s Netflix special brought together an all-star roster of wealthy celebrities who are too popular to be canceled. This is not really a sufficient answer for the ongoing controversies surrounding Americans who face professional and financial consequences for their statements and political opinions. But the fact that retired multimillionaire pro athletes and celebrities can tell controversial jokes, seen by millions, and face no professional repercussions does plant a flag declaring that sometimes a joke is just a joke, and doesn’t need to become a firing offense or federal case. (Let’s also note that roasts are known for their stinging insult comedy, and it’s a time and place for those comments. Your company’s Monday meeting probably isn’t the right time and place for your edgiest comedy material.

*It’s a bit hard to determine if Belichick is losing career opportunities because of his jokes, as no one wanted to hire him this offseason.