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Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is going after former NFL player Shannon Sharpe in a defamation lawsuit for bashing him in the media for his alleged involvement in the Mississippi fraud scheme.
News Onyx obtained legal documents showing Favre claimed Sharpe made “egregiously false and defamatory statements” about Favre on his sports television program, Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. Favre stated in the lawsuit that he requested Sharpe to “retract and apologize for his defamatory statements,” but Sharpe allegedly refused.
Favre was referring to the Sept. 14, 2022, live tapping of Undisputed, where Sharpe spoke the truth about how low it was for a rich man who made over $100 million in the NFL to take millions of dollars from the poorest state in America.
“The problem that I have with this situation, you got to be a sorry mofo to steal from the lowest (of the low),” Sharpe said. “Mississippi is the poorest state in our country…Brett Farve is taking from the underserved.”
Per a News Onyx report, John Davis, an ex-director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS), pleaded guilty to misusing over $77 million in welfare money after State Auditor Shadrack “Shad” Tucker White’s office discovered the misuse of funds.
The funds were to go to the state welfare programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and The Emergency Food Assitance Program (TEFAP).
White’s office released the names of individuals who benefited from Davis’ misuse, including Favre, showing he received $1.1 million between 2017 and 2018 for appearances and speeches at numerous events he never attended, all to put the money towards the University of Southern Mississippi’s volleyball stadium.
Text messages between Favre and Mississippi Community Education Center organizer Nancy News (obtained by the Mississippi Free Press) showed the two discussing the facility’s funding sources, for which Davis agreed to put forth $4 million from TANF funds. In one message, Favre asked News if the media would catch wind of where the money came from and how much he was paid, to which she said “no.”
“So, if you got to ask this question, ‘Is there any way the media can find out?’ You already know you’re doing something wrong,” Sharpe argued. “The mere fact that you don’t want anybody to know.”
Sharpe continued, “Skip, he wanted to seem to…philanthropic, he wanted to change the perception and narrative, he take money for some d**n volleyball arena…No money came out of his pocket. He stole money from people that really needed that money.”
Favre wasn’t the only athlete paid by Davis. The former MDHS director paid WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase, Brett DiBiase and former NFL player Marcus Dupree.
“You got to be really low to take from the poorest of the poor,” Sharpe said. “They paying you to give speeches and you didn’t even give the speeches.”
Sharpe hit the nail on the head when he said that the government acted swiftly in jailing Black people for a few hundred dollars stolen, yet Favre’s situation involved millions of dollars, and the government took its time.
Favre also filed a defamation lawsuit against White, claiming he “made egregiously false and defamatory statements accusing Favre of ‘steal[ing] taxpayer funds’ and knowingly misusing funds’ designed to serve poor folks.'”
While Sharpe hasn’t spoken about the lawsuit, White’s office released a statement regarding the former NFL player’s case.
“Everything Auditor White has said about this case is true and is backed by years of audit work by the professionals at the Office of the State Auditor,” the statement read. “It’s mind-boggling that Mr. Favre wants to have a trial about that question. Mr. Favre has called Auditor White and his team liars despite repaying some of the money our office demanded from him. He’s also claimed the auditors are liars despite clear documentary evidence showing he benefitted from misspent funds. Instead of paying New York litigators to try this case, he’d be better off fully repaying the amount of welfare funds he owes the state.”
White’s office demanded Favre paid back a little over $820,000, but the NFL player only returned about $600,000. He owes a little over $200,000.
Text messages between Favre and former Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant showed Favre seemingly disregarding the audit investigation and continuously pushing for funding for the volleyball stadium, even when Bryant told him to hold off on payments on the facility until investigators completed the investigation.
Davis faced 13 fraud and five conspiracy counts in Hinds County.