Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre was accused of allegedly committing welfare fraud in his home state of Mississippi. After it was reported by Shannon Sharpe, who was on the FS1 show Undisputed in 2023, Favre filed a defamation lawsuit against the former football player.
Last October, a federal judge dismissed Favre’s defamation lawsuit, stating that Sharpe’s remarks about Favre’s connection to a welfare misspending case in Mississippi were constitutionally protected speech. In July, the NFL Hall of Famer asked
a federal appeals court to reinstate the lawsuit. On Sept. 16, a federal appeals court refused to restore the lawsuit.According to ESPN, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Favre’s request. The court ruled that Sharpe’s comments were constitutionally protected opinions based on publicly known facts.
“His statements are better viewed as strongly stated opinions about the widely reported welfare scandal,” Judge Leslie Southwick wrote on behalf of a unanimous three-judge appellate panel.
She said that the alleged inaccuracies were corrected during the show by Skip Bayless, who stated that Favre was not criminally charged and returned the initial $1.1 million paid to him. Southwick also mentioned that Sharpe also clarified during the episode that Favre had said he didn’t know the source of the funds.
“At the time Sharpe made the statements, the facts on which he was relying were publicly known, and Sharpe had a right to characterize those publicly known facts caustically and unfairly,” Southwick wrote.
At the time, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White claimed that Favre improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees that were supposed to go toward a volleyball arena at The University of Southern Mississippi. The school is Favre’s alma mater, and his daughter played volleyball there. The money paid to Favre was from a nonprofit organization that spent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money with approval from the state Department of Human Services.
Initially, Sharpe said Favre was “taking from the underserved,” that he “stole money from people that really needed that money,” and that someone would have to be a sorry person “to steal from the lowest of the low.”
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