In a long-awaited interview with Vanity Fair, Gisele Bündchen has begun to tell her own account of the end of her thirteen-year marriage to Tom Brady, a split that was finalized in October 2022 and had been narrated largely by others. She describes it as the loss of a dream, and she pushes back against the story that she forced a choice between her husband and his football career, insisting the truth is more tangled than any single ultimatum. Her words carry an unusual mix of grace and weariness, the sound of someone who wants to honor a former partner while refusing to be defined by the rumor
Gisele Bündchen Breaks Silence on Tom Brady Split, Calls Ultimatum and Dating Rumors 'Absurd'
"Seeing lies being created all the time about yourself is not easy."
Mark
Why does this interview matter beyond celebrity gossip?
Mimi
Because the story people told about the divorce, the ultimatum, was never hers. This is the first time she's answered it directly, and she says it's far more complicated than that.
Mark
What exactly did she deny?
Mimi
That she made Brady choose between the marriage and football. She called the idea one piece of a bigger puzzle, not black and white.
Luke
Worth noting she doesn't lay out what the rest of the puzzle is. She rejects the framing but doesn't give her own full account in what's quoted here.
Mark
Does she say anything about Brady himself?
Mimi
Warmly. She says she's always cheered for him and wants all his dreams to come true.
Luke
That's her statement. We don't have Brady's side in this piece, so it's one half of the picture.
Mark
And the dating rumors?
Mimi
She treated two very differently. She called the Jeffrey Soffer one absurd and said she has zero relationship with him. With Joaquim Valente, her jiu-jitsu instructor, she praised him as someone she admires and trusts.
Luke
Careful there. She didn't say whether they're dating. She said she's grateful and trusts him. The reporting doesn't confirm more than that.
Mark
What's the human thread?
Mimi
Two kids, 10 and 13, and a woman saying that watching lies about yourself built again and again is hard.
Luke
And the phrase about her dream dying is the only direct description of the loss. Everything else is about the rumors around it.
Il Polso
- A once-public marriage ended, and the ultimatum story spread faster than anyone could correct it.
- Bündchen answered the gossip directly, calling the ultimatum claim hurtful and the craziest thing she had heard.
- Dating rumors about her jiu-jitsu instructor and a billionaire developer landed in her inbox of public speculation, and she shot both down.
- She is trying to reclaim the narrative by speaking in her own voice, wishing her ex-husband well from the bottom of her heart.
- The story is settling into her version, though it remains open to whether Brady or those close to him respond.
In a long-awaited interview with Vanity Fair, Gisele Bündchen has begun to tell her own account of the end of her thirteen-year marriage to Tom Brady, a split that was finalized in October 2022 and had been narrated largely by others. She describes it as the loss of a dream, and she pushes back against the story that she forced a choice between her husband and his football career, insisting the truth is more tangled than any single ultimatum. Her words carry an unusual mix of grace and weariness, the sound of someone who wants to honor a former partner while refusing to be defined by the rumors that gathered around her after the separation.
In an interview published by Vanity Fair, Gisele Bündchen spoke at length for the first time about ending her marriage to Tom Brady, a union of thirteen years whose divorce was finalized in October 2022. She described the split as "the death of my dream," a phrase that carries the weight of something she had built and believed in.
The most persistent story after the separation was that she had given Brady an ultimatum: his marriage or his football career. She rejected that version outright, calling it "not so black and white" and "one piece of a much bigger puzzle." Still, she was generous toward him. She said she has always cheered for him and wants all his dreams to come true.
The divorce also brought rumors about her love life. Reports linked her to her jiu-jitsu instructor, Joaquim Valente, and she answered with resigned humor, noting that as a divorced woman she expected to be attached to anything. She did not pull away from Valente, speaking warmly of his character and of the good energy he brings her children.
A separate rumor tied her to real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer, which she called absurd. Her closing words captured the cost of it all: "Seeing lies being created all the time about yourself is not easy."
In an interview published Wednesday by Vanity Fair, Gisele Bündchen spoke publicly for the first time at length about the end of her marriage to Tom Brady, describing it as "the death of my dream." The two were married for 13 years, and their divorce was finalized in October 2022.
The most persistent story to follow the split was that Bündchen had given Brady an ultimatum: his marriage or his football career. Brady is now a retired NFL star. She rejected that version of events. "Wow, people really made it about that," she said, calling what has been reported "one piece of a much bigger puzzle." In her words, "It's not so black and white." She described the talk as "very hurtful" and "the craziest thing" she had ever heard.
She was just as plain about her feelings toward her former husband. "I have always cheered for him, and I would continue forever," she said. She added that if there is one person she wants to be the happiest in the world, it is him, and that she wants all his dreams to come true "from the bottom of my heart."
The divorce also brought a second wave of rumors, this one about her love life. After it was finalized, reports circulated that Bündchen, who is 42 and from Brazil, was dating her jiu-jitsu instructor, Joaquim Valente. She answered with some resignation. "At this point, unfortunately, because I'm divorced, I'm sure that they're going to try to attach me to anything," she said.
She did not distance herself from Valente, who is based in Miami and is also Brazilian. She said she is "so grateful" to have met him, calling him "a person that I admire and that I trust." She spoke of the value of having her children around what she called that kind of energy. Bündchen and Brady share two children: a daughter, Vivian, who is 10, and a son, Benjamin, who is 13.
A separate rumor linked her to Jeffrey Soffer, a 55-year-old real estate developer and billionaire. She dismissed it as "absurd." "I have zero relationship with him in any way," she said, adding, "I mean, puh-leeze." She mocked the logic of the claim, that she was with an older man because he has money, and called it ridiculous.
The interview closed on the cost of the attention. "Seeing lies being created all the time about yourself is not easy," she said.
The comments reframe a widely covered personal split in her own terms. Whether Brady or anyone close to him responds to her account is not addressed in the interview coverage, so what follows depends on whether either side speaks again.
Citazioni salienti
What's been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. It's not so black and white.— Gisele Bündchen, Vanity Fair
I have zero relationship with him in any way.— Gisele Bündchen, on Jeffrey Soffer
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