Shannon Sharpe speaks out on court victory over Brett Favre

Brett Favre’s efforts to revive his defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe was unsuccessful.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal, upholding the earlier dismissal of the case .

Favre filed defamation lawsuits against Sharpe and Pat McAfee last year due to their comments regarding his alleged involvement in the Mississippi welfare scandal. While Favre’s initial lawsuits were dismissed, he persisted in appealing the decision , but the court ultimately denied his appeal.

Sharpe reacted to the decision on his Nightcap podcast with co-host Chad Johnson.

“Again, I won my appeal against Brett Favre,” Sharpe told his co-host. “He said I defamed him, and in a strongly worded opinion, they said, ‘Mr. Sharpe offered strong opinions based on things that were reported as fact,’ and that’s not defamation. Hopefully — look, there’s a chance he tries to throw a Hail Mary and take it to the Supreme Court. Who knows? Maybe his job is to, but I was never going to back down. And (Pat McAfee) said, ‘Hey, he didn’t,’ no, I don’t feel like I did anything wrong.”

Awful Announcing’s Brandon Contes recently covered the situation as to why Favre sued Sharpe and elected to appeal the initial dismissal of the case.

Here’s that:

Favre was named in a 2022 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 as part of the largest public embezzlement scandal in state history. Favre has not been charged with a crime and denies knowing where the received funds came from.

After the former NFL quarterback was named in the civil suit, Sharpe went on a Sept. 2022 episode of FS1’s Undisputed and alleged Favre was “taking from the underserved” and “stole money from people that really needed that money.” Sharpe added that someone would have to be a sorry person “to steal from the lowest of the low.”

In the appeal attempt, Favre’s attorney argued Sharpe’s comments were “actionable defamation because that reasonable listener is taking the word steal literally and not figuratively.” After hearing oral arguments from both sides in the appeal, the Fifth Circuit ultimately decided Sharpe’s statements were “strongly stated opinions about the widely reported welfare scandal” and didn’t qualify as actionable defamation.

“I don’t got no problem, Ocho,” Sharpe continued, speaking to his co-host. “And fans and people that’s listening and watching right now, you’ve heard me say, ‘Actions, I control that. Consequences are out of my control, but the consequences that come from my actions, I stand here on it — all 10.’ I’m wrong; I’m wrong. I don’t believe I defamed Brett Favre; I believe I offered a very strong opinion on what was reported…

“The money, he paid the original, but they said he owes interest that hasn’t been paid back. That’s what was reported; I was speaking on what was reported. Now, at the time, I said he took money; Skip said he paid it back. And what about the interest? It’s been reported that the interest hasn’t been paid back, and like the funds…$5 million, $4 million, or something went for a volleyball arena. And so, I was surprised that he filed a lawsuit.”

“It wasn’t about the money,” added Sharpe, “I wasn’t about to back down. Because sometimes people try to put you in a pinch and think big bank take little bank; I’ll spend up all my money. I was never going to apologize because I don’t believe I did anything wrong. If I was wrong, if I say something and somebody say, OK, Megan the Stallion, she took what I said, and she took it, and it hurt her. OK, I ain’t got no problem. Meg, I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention. Intent don’t matter because you were equally as offended, even though that wasn’t my intention.

“If I say something, the way I behaved at the Lakers game, I’m wrong. I’m wrong, deada**, but I don’t believe I defamed Brett. I don’t. I was offering a strong opinion on what was being reported.”

Sharpe hopes that this is over.

“Hopefully it’s over,” he said. “I really do, Ocho, I hope it’s over. I wish Brett nothing but the best. I heard either tomorrow or next week, he’s going before Congress, and they’re going to ask him some questions about the funds. What he knew, how much he knew, when did he know, what did he know, and so, I just want the people of Mississippi to have their day in court. That was wrong; however, it got out that the funds were misappropriated, and I want the people of Mississippi to be made whole because that’s the poorest state in the U.S. — Mississippi is the poorest.

“They can ill afford to have any money slip through the cracks and go to people that didn’t deserve it. That’s bad…I just want people that can’t help themselves, you talk about people making $10 and $15 and $20,000 a year. Man, come on…Look, God, you’ve blessed me; you’ve shown favor to me more than I probably deserve, but everybody not like us, Ocho. Everybody’s not gonna play a number of years in the NFL, or play a professional sport. Everybody’s not gonna have a job and be able to take care of their money, and when they retire, they good. Everybody ain’t gonna be like that…

“I just hate that the people of Mississippi — and I don’t know why people would do that — but I’m just glad it’s over. I wish Brett the best. I wish the people in Mississippi that they get their day and let justice be served. That’s where I am on that.”

[ Nightcap ]

The post Shannon Sharpe reacts to Brett Favre’s defamation appeal being denied: ‘I wasn’t about to back down’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .