Tom Brady and the mysterious message to Gisele Bündchen: “True love”

Tom Brady used social media to send a “middle finger” to his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, after she became a mother to a boy with her new husband, Joaquim Valente, according to a new book dedicated to the American football legend.

A month after Bündchen gave birth to her first child with Valente in February 2025, Brady posted a photo on Instagram, in what appeared to be a coded message to his ex-wife.

“Just over a month after the birth, Brady posted a photo of himself on Instagram — his preferred way of communicating publicly, often in coded fashion,” writes author Lars Anderson in his new book, Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness.

Anderson goes on to describe the photo, in which Brady is seen throwing a ball at sunset.

Under the photo, the former NFL star had written just two words: “True Love.”

According to the author, that was exactly the expression Gisele Bündchen had repeatedly used to describe Brady’s relationship with American football.

Anderson writes that for those close to Brady, the post left little room for interpretation. The author claims a friend of the former NFL champion described the post as: “The middle finger.”

Brady, 49, and Bündchen, 46, divorced in October 2022 after 13 years of marriage. The couple have two children together, Benjamin, 16, and Vivian, 13. Brady also has a son, Jack, 19, from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan.

Anderson’s book also claims Brady made a final attempt to save his marriage to Bündchen in 2022. Around the same time, his teammates and coaches at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were reportedly worried about him after he lost around 20 pounds.

Former Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians told Anderson it was clear the weight loss was linked to the stress of the personal issues Brady was facing.

Arians even described him in terms that Brady “looked like a cancer patient, but with great hair.” According to the book, Brady had told Buccaneers executives he needed to “deal with some personal issues” and asked to step away temporarily from training camp.

He was absent for 11 days, which Anderson describes as a final, desperate attempt to keep the family together. When he returned to the team, the author writes, Brady’s emotional state appeared even worse.

“His spirit seemed more broken than before, as if those 11 days had not simply passed, but had carved deep canyons into his heart,” Anderson writes in his book.

The book Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness was published on Tuesday, September 29.