Two months after Brett Favre’s lawyer threatened to bankrupt Pat McAfee in a defamation lawsuit, the lawsuit has been dropped.
In February, Favre and his lawyer Eric Herschmann filed a defamation lawsuit against McAfee, alleging the podcast host accused the retired quarterback of being a “thief” who stole “from poor people in Mississippi.” McAfee, who repeatedly used the word “allegedly” while talking about Favre on his program, vowed to fight the lawsuit, but it already appears to have been resolved.
McAfee took a brief break from paternity leave Thursday afternoon to update his audience on Favre dropping the defamation lawsuit against him.
Full update on the Brett Favre lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/wmZfVKcNji
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 11, 2023
“As many of you know, Brett Favre sued me over statements that I made about him on this program,” McAfee said. “As I confirmed in my court papers and I repeat here, my statements expressed in comedic style were based solely on public information and allegations. As I have previously stated, I respect the hell out of Brett Favre the football player and his Hall of Fame career on the field and I have no personal knowledge about any case involving Brett in Mississippi. I am pleased to report that based solely on me again clarifying these points now, with no settlement paid, Brett is withdrawing his suit against me.”
Last year, Favre was named in a civil suit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services where he was accused of improperly receiving funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Those funds were put toward a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre has denied any knowledge of the welfare funds’ intended purpose, although his motion to dismiss the case was denied.
After Favre was named in the lawsuit, McAfee later stated his desire to see the welfare case mentioned every time the former NFL quarterback’s name is mentioned. “For the information that we have currently, we have to mention, he tied the hands of poor people and took money right out of their pockets,” McAfee said of Favre last November.
In recent months, McAfee repeatedly pointed to his incessant use of the term “allegedly” on his podcast as a defense in the defamation lawsuit from Favre. But Favre’s lawyer vowed to make McAfee apologize, even if it costs the podcast host millions in legal fees.
“I guarantee you the jury in Mississippi will make certain he learns how to apologize,” Herschmann said of McAfee in February. “It’s going to cost Pat McAfee millions of dollars. And if it bankrupts him, then he will have learned his lesson about you don’t try to promote yourself by inappropriately and improperly attacking somebody else.”
The lawsuit has now ended without McAfee offering a public apology or paying any settlement, although he did admit to having no knowledge of Favre’s case in Mississippi. McAfee also doesn’t appear to have gone bankrupt after two months of back and forth with Favre’s legal team.
