Brett Favre Says He Will No Longer Sue Pat McAfee Over “Robbing From The Poor” Comment | nfl

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is ending a lawsuit against sportscaster Pat McAfee after McAfee publicly apologized Thursday for his previous statements on the air that Favre had been “robbing poor people in Mississippi” in a welfare embezzlement case.

Favre and McAfee announced the agreement. McAfee, former nfl gambler, apologized during The Pscat McAfee Show on YouTube and said he did not have to make a payment to Favre to settle the lawsuit.

“As I have confirmed in my court documents and repeat here, my statements expressed in comedic style were based solely on public information and accusations,” McAfee said, adding that he respects Favre’s football career.

“I would much rather talk about sports than lawsuits, so I’m glad we’ve put all this behind us,” McAfee said.

Favre wrote in a Twitter post: “As Pat said, I was trying to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We both prefer to talk about football.

In a lawsuit filed in a Mississippi In court in February, Favre’s lawyers wrote that McAfee had used “outrageous falsehoods” that included calling Favre a “thief” who was “robbing poor people in Mississippi.” In March, Favre withdrew the state lawsuit and filed a similar complaint in federal court.

Favre still has pending defamation lawsuits against former NFL player Shannon Sharpe and Mississippi auditor Shad White.

Favre said Sharpe made “grossly false” statements about him on the Fox Sports talk show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, including that Favre “stole money from people who really needed money.”

Sharpe’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, writing in a May 3 filing: “Mississippi law protects Sharpe’s right to make caustic and critical comments about Favre’s involvement in a matter of public interest: the poor spending of welfare funds earmarked for the poor of Mississippi. families.”

White’s lawyers have said Favre cannot prove malice in any statement the auditor made about the welfare case.

White has said that between 2016 and 2019, the Mississippi Department of Human Services wasted more than $77 million on welfare. Prosecutors have said the department gave money to nonprofit organizations that spent it on projects like a $5 million volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, a project for which Favre agreed to raise money.

Favre is not facing criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or businesses the state is suing to try to recover money wasted through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program.

Favre has returned $1.1 million he received in fees from a nonprofit group that spent TANF money with the approval of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. White said Favre never showed up to give the speeches.

In December, the department filed a new lawsuit for up to $5 million against Favre and a college sports foundation, alleging that welfare money was misused to pay for a volleyball stadium at Favre’s alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi.

Favre’s daughter started playing volleyball in college in 2017. The volleyball facility was a pet project of the NFL Hall of Famer, and he vowed to lead the fundraising efforts. Documents filed in the state’s civil lawsuit show text message exchanges between Favre and others about sending money to the volleyball facility of a nonprofit organization that had contracts with the Department of Human Services.