Last month, Brett Favre filed a defamation lawsuit against football media personality Pat McAfee over comments he made about Favre’s alleged involvement in a welfare scandal that saw millions of dollars meant for the state’s poorest citizens redirected to Favre and his alma mater, the University of Sothern Mississippi. McAfee was forced to officially respond to the suit, removing the suit from Mississippi state court to federal court. But initially, he didn’t even think the lawsuit was real.
McAfee claims that when he initially received the lawsuit, he actually thought it was a prank from one of his friends.
“Honestly, I was like, ‘Oh, this has gotta be fake,’” McAfee told A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.com. “I thought it was like [WWE commentator] Michael Cole or maybe [former NFL kicker Adam] Vinatieri. There are humans in my life who would certainly go through a lot of things just to be like, ‘Oh, I got you.’ I thought it was a rib.”
Obviously, McAfee soon became aware that the defamation lawsuit was indeed very real, and he was forced to take it seriously.
“But I guess this is real life,” McAfee said. “It’s part of my life now, you know?”
McAfee was not the only one hit with a defamation lawsuit as Favre is also suing Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe and Mississippi state auditor Shad White for their comments as well. However, McAfee has been the most vocal in discussing the details of the lawsuit and how it has evolved.
Favre has denied any knowledge of the welfare money’s intended purpose, although Mississippi Today reported text messages from him as well as then-Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant that seem to paint a different picture.
As for McAfee, Favre’s lawyer claims that the upcoming lawsuit is going to cost him millions of dollars. But McAfee has made it clear he will fight the charges in court and has no intention of apologizing.
