Tom Brady Defended Amid Pushback Over Rumored Age-Gap Romance

Tom Brady set tongues wagging after he was seen getting cozy with influencer Alix Earle at a New Year’s Eve yacht party in St. Barts.

This swiftly led to wild reactions online, with some netizens criticizing the former NFL star because of the age difference between him and Earle. However, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy backed him, saying, “Age is just a number.”

Dave Portnoy has thrown in a word of support for Tom Brady after he faced some criticism over a viral video where he was seen getting close to Alix Earle at a New Year’s Eve party in St. Barts.

Earle, who recently split from Houston Texans wide receiver Braxton Berrios, spent all night near Brady with the viral clip showing them dancing and chatting closely at a club in St. Bart.

In one particularly moment, Earle was seen whispering into Brady’s ear while affectionately rubbing his back.

The clip sent social media users into a frenzy with several people pointing out the 23-year age difference between the pair.

Portnoy, who’s also dating his much younger partner, Camryn D’Aloia, believes the uproar over Brady and Earle’s potential age-gap romance is uncalled for.

“I’m seeing lot of negative Nancy’s commenting on the 23-year age gap between Brady and Alix Earle. Unbiased, I say let them live! Age is just a number. And if you could pull Alix Earle at almost 50, you would,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), before adding a hashtag of “love laugh live.”

“I don’t know how Brady manages to stay out clubbing in St Barths at our age. This game is on fire, and I’m battling to stay awake,” the Barstool founder noted in another post, referencing the Sugar Bowl clash between Ole Miss and Georgia.

Brady and Earle have yet to respond to the viral video, nor have they confirmed if they’re a thing. However, a source told Page Six that they went off together to a private cabin to talk later that evening.

“They were at a yacht party and met, and broke off from the larger group, talking for a lot of the night,” the insider said.

The sighting comes barely a month after Earle announced her split from Berrios, who was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2018 when Brady was the star quarterback.

In a tearful Instagram video, she cried as she called him her “best friend,” before adding that their long-distance relationship has ended due to their respective commitments.

“I just feel like I can’t be what Braxton needs,” she said. “I love Braxton, he is my best friend, and it has been really difficult as we try and go forward with this. We’re on good terms, and I don’t want anyone to come for him or be mean to him.”

Since his divorce from Gisele Bündchen in 2022, Brady has been the subject of constant dating rumors and has been previously linked to Sofia Vergara, Sydney Sweeney, and model Irina Shayk.

Back in December, Bündchen got married to her Jiu-Jitsu trainer, Joaquim Valente, after welcoming a child with him. However, a source told the Daily Mail that Brady was “happy” for her, as opposed to previous speculations that he was upset.

“He’s happy in the way that is simple: he’s happy that she is happy,” the source said. “Down the line, he might get married again, and he would want her to be OK with that, so he has to be OK about it.”

The insider added, “If he was upset, that would mean he still has feelings for her and that it would be unfair to the kids if he didn’t want to see their mom happy and move on.”

According to the news outlet, the source went further to share that Brady has had to learn a lot following his split from the Brazilian model, with whom he shares son Benjamin, and daughter, Vivian, as well as Bridget Moynahan, with whom he shared his eldest son, Jack.

“He’s had to move on from two different important relationships, and two mothers to his children,” the source said. “He’s learned a lot along the way, and he’s taking this next stage in stride. He’s being very mature about it and not letting it pick at him negatively in any way.”

They continued, “It’s life, and everyone is happy. It’s the holiday season, he’s not inviting any drama where there doesn’t have to be.”

“They are living their own separate lives, and anything that actually matters is the safety and happiness of their children,” the insider noted. “That is everything for Tom.”