Brett Favre may have disgraced himself over insidious allegations that he misspent welfare money in the biggest welfare fraud case in the state of Mississippi. But that has not stopped him from apparently making big legal maneuvers.
It was reported on Thursday that Favre filed defamation lawsuits against media personalities Pat McAfee and Shannon Sharpe. Also included in the lawsuits was Mississippi state auditor Shad White.
Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post reported the news of the lawsuits on Thursday. “Inbox: Brett Favre filed defamation lawsuits today against Pat McAfee, Shannon Sharpe and Mississippi state auditor Shad White. Favre has denied knowledge that misspent state welfare funds had come from where they did,” Glasspiegel tweeted.
Inbox: Brett Favre filed defamation lawsuits today against Pat McAfee, Shannon Sharpe and Mississippi state auditor Shad White. Favre has denied knowledge that misspent state welfare funds had come from where they did.
— Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) February 9, 2023
Favre has been engulfed in scandal since this story broke in the spring of 2020. When you thought the news couldn’t get worse, it generally did. Favre remained adamant however that he has done nothing wrong and did not misspend the funds.
According to Mississippi Today, Favre’s argument against White, in particular, was that he did this to advance his own career.
“Shad White, the State Auditor of Mississippi, has carried out an outrageous media campaign of malicious and false accusations against Brett Favre — the Hall of Fame quarterback and native son of Mississippi — in a brazen attempt to leverage the media attention generated by Favre’s celebrity to further his own political career,” reads Favre’s complaint, filed in Hinds County Circuit Court on Feb. 9.
Favre’s complaint against White continues: “By shamelessly and falsely attacking Favre’s good name, White has gained national media attention he previously could have only dreamed of, including appearances on television shows on CNN and HBO, a popular ESPN podcast, as well as interviews for print and online media. None of these national media outlets would have paid White the slightest attention had he not been attacking Favre. White himself acknowledged this, admitting that his own wife was “shocked” by his appearance on the ESPN Daily Podcast.”
It’s clear that Favre won’t go away quietly here, but getting two loud personalities like Sharpe and McAfee legally involved is going to be pretty wild to see play out.
UPDATE (5:50 p.m. ET): The office of Mississippi state Shad White has made an official response to the lawsuit Favre filed.
Fletcher Freeman told Awful Announcing, ”Everything Auditor White has said about this case is true and is backed by years of audit work by the professionals at the Office of the State Auditor. It’s mind-boggling that Mr. Favre wants to have a trial about that question. Mr. Favre has called Auditor White and his team liars despite repaying some of the money our office demanded from him. He’s also claimed the auditors are liars despite clear documentary evidence showing he benefitted from misspent funds. Instead of paying New York litigators to try this case, he’d be better off fully repaying the amount of welfare funds he owes the state.”
