Pat McAfee announced Thursday that former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has dismissed the defamation lawsuit against him based on the comments he made regarding Favre’s reported involvement in misappropriating welfare funds in Mississippi in 2020.
Favre was part of a 2022 lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services alleging that the funds for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families were misspent on initiatives that Favre supported, according to the Associated Press. One of the projects Favre is alleged to have supported included $5 million toward a volleyball facility at Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was part of the program.
McAfee confirmed that Favre was withdrawing the lawsuit against him during the opening segment of his show.
“As I confirmed in my court papers and I repeat here, my statements expressed in comedic style were based solely on public statements and allegations,” McAfee said. “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.”
Full update on the Brett Favre lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/wmZfVKcNji
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 11, 2023
The news of the withdrawal comes after Favre filed a complaint in February alleging that McAfee defamed him during an episode of his podcast on Nov. 30, 2022.
“Every time [Favre’s] name gets brought up, we have to mention that he tied the hands of the poor people and took money right out of their pockets,” McAfee previously said. “He is certainly in the middle of stealing from poor people in Mississippi right now.”
Shortly after McAfee made the Thursday announcement, Favre confirmed the withdrawal of the lawsuit in a tweet saying the two had “settled” the litigation.
“Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge,” Favre said. “We’d both much rather talk about football.”
I'm happy that Pat McAfee and I have settled this litigation. Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We'd both much rather talk about football.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) May 11, 2023
On March 31, before Favre dismissed the lawsuit, McAfee had filed a motion to dismiss it. ProFootballTalk outlined the key arguments in McAfee’s motion, arguing that Favre’s complaint has “no false statement of fact made by McAfee” and “failed to “properly allege that McAfee acted with ‘actual malice,’” among other things.
In addition to the lawsuit against McAfee, Favre filed lawsuits against sports commentator Shannon Sharpe and Mississippi state auditor Shad White. Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today reported that nonprofit leaders had misspent at least $77 million in welfare funds.
In February, Favre’s lawyers filed a second motion to dismiss the welfare lawsuit, nearly three months after an initial motion to dismiss it. Favre has yet to face criminal charges.
He stated that he repaid the $1.1 million that he gave to Southern Mississippi after he found out it was a misuse of funds in October 2022. Favre continues to deny wrongdoing in the case.
