Judge dismisses Brett Favre's defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre's defamation lawsuit against fellow ex-NFL player Shannon Sharpe was dismissed by a federal judge on Monday.
Keith Starrett, the U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, granted the motion to dismiss the case after determining that Sharpe's comments were protected under the First Amendment. The case can't be refiled because Starrett dismissed it with prejudice.
The Untied States District Court 4 the Southern District of Mississippi 2day dismissed Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against me. The court found the statements were protected by the 1st Amendment 2 the Constitution. Thanks 2 my legal team and their handling of this case. 🙏🏾🙏🏾
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) October 31, 2023
Starrett was scathing in his 12-page opinion.
“No reasonable person listening to the broadcast would think that Favre actually went into the homes of poor people and took their money — that he committed the crime of theft/larceny against any particular poor person in Mississippi,” Starrett said.
“Sharpe’s comments were made against the backdrop of longstanding media coverage of Favre’s role in the welfare scandal and the state’s lawsuit against Favre. Listeners would have recognized Sharpe’s statements as rhetorical hyperbole.”
Sharpe became the target of Favre's ire due to comments Sharpe made during a September 2022 episode of FS1's "Undisputed."
“So, if that is the poorest state, Brett Favre is taking from the underserved,” Sharpe said on his former show. “You made a hundred plus million dollars in the NFL, and to talk about, well, [Favre] didn’t know. This is what Brett Favre texted, ‘If you were to pay me, is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?’ … He stole money from people that really needed that money.”
The former tight end was discussing the ongoing misappropriated welfare funds case in Mississippi. The Mississippi Department of Human Services is trying to recover more than $77 million, and more than 40 defendants, including Favre, are in the lawsuit.
Favre has not only sued Sharpe, but also ESPN's Pat McAfee and Shad White, a Mississippi state auditor, for making “false and defamatory statements” about his involvement in the case. The former quarterback has continued to deny wrongdoing and hasn't been criminally charged.
