‘GOOD NAME’

Brett Favre Sues State Auditor, Sportscasters for Defamation

The lawsuits filed against state auditor Shad White and commentators Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee accuse them of spreading “malicious lies” about the ex-NFL player.

Brett Favre is a “Hall of Fame quarterback and native son of Mississippi”—at least, that’s how he identifies himself in a defamation complaint he filed against Shad White, accusing the state auditor of carrying out “shamelessly and falsely attacking Favre’s good name” in recent months. The lawsuit was one of three filed by Favre on Thursday over what he termed “outrageous falsehoods” to do with his alleged involvement in the largest welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi’s history. The other two suits target commentators and former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee. The complaint naming Sharpe alleges the 14-season veteran defamed Favre on a broadcast of Fox Sports’ Skip and Shannon: Undisputed when he called Favre a “sorry mofo” who “stole money from people that really needed money.” The suit against McAfee, a former punter and All-Pro, accuses him of similar remarks made on The Pat McAfee Show. Favre is not facing criminal charges in the welfare fraud case. He became embroiled in the scandal in 2020 after a state audit unearthed that he’d been paid $1.1 million in public funds for speeches he allegedly never made.