Former NFL star Brett Favre filed a defamation suit against fellow football legend Shannon Sharpe in February.
Favre was heated over comments made by Sharpe about the quarterback’s ongoing Mississippi welfare scandal. Sharpe remarked that Favre “stole money from people that really needed that money,” and Favre took him to court.
However, the Mississippi judge ruled that no reasonable person would think that Favre literally stole the money from poor people.
“No reasonable person listening to the Broadcast would think that Favre actually went into the homes of poor people and took their money—that he committed the crime of theft/larceny against any particular poor person in Mississippi,” read U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett’s ruling.
“Sharpe’s comments were made against the backdrop of longstanding media coverage of Favre’s role in the welfare scandal and the State’s lawsuit against Favre. Listeners would have recognized Sharpe’s statements as rhetorical hyperbole—robust language used to express Sharpe’s strong views about the new information that emerged about Favre’s participation in the welfare scandal.
“The context in which Sharpe’s remarks were made–including the tenor of the Broadcast as a whole, the format of the program and its audience, and the fact that viewers were told Favre was not charged with a crime–forecloses Favre’s claim that a reasonable viewer would have thought Sharpe was actually accusing him of committing ‘larceny.’ Because Sharpe’s comments are constitutionally protected rhetorical hyperbole using loose, figurative language, they cannot support a defamation claim as a matter of law.”
Sharpe took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to thank the court for the ruling.
“The United States District Court 4 the Southern District of Mississippi 2day dismissed Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against me,” Sharpe wrote.
“The court found the statements were protected by the 1st Amendment 2 the Constitution. Thanks 2 my legal team and their handling of this case.”
The NFL world was quick to react to the judge’s verdict:
Great opportunity to say that Brett Favre belongs in jail for stealing welfare funds in Mississippi. https://t.co/DvWteRPDw2
— C (@ckutytweet) October 31, 2023
S/o The Legal Team. Just a reminder 11/4/23 is Love your Lawyer Day 🥰 https://t.co/pfqws5l6zn
— AJ Custard, 🧘🏾♂️ (@mrajcustard) October 31, 2023
Brett Farve, what a clown https://t.co/1Ykrr7aZTu
— John (@john_montell) October 31, 2023
Now they need to go arrest him for that BS he pulled https://t.co/K8B3V00PIz
— jodie_black 🇻🇮 (@21_below) October 31, 2023
Lawsuit worked in the end.. he got people to stop talking about how he stole money from the people of Mississippi. https://t.co/6Hlz4Gavo3
— Rogues Burner Account (@winston_hawkins) October 31, 2023
