A federal judge has dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by Brett Favre against Shannon Sharpe in February over the Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end’s comments about Favre’s involvement in the Mississippi welfare scandal.
According to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, the case never progressed from June on, and didn’t get close to discovery. Favre filed the lawsuit against Sharpe after he referred to him as a “sorry mofo” and a “sleazeball” during an episode of FS1‘s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed” last September.
“I talked to people that was in the room when Brett Favre went to the Hall of Fame. Nobody mentioned about text messages that he sent to that Jets masseuse. Nobody mentioned anything about the [painkiller] addiction that he suffered from. But yet, [Terrell Owens], they brought up everything,” Sharpe said, via The Comeback. “Can you imagine, if T.O. would have had an incident — incidents — like Brett Favre off the field? T.O. still, to this day, right now, would not be in the Hall of Fame. Yet they walked right past it like Brett Favre did nothing.
“The problem that I have with this situation. You got to be a sorry mofo to steal from the lowest — Mississippi is the poorest state in our country. … But he’s been a sleazeball. He’s been shaky. For a very, very long time.”
Brett Favre remains involved in fallout from Mississippi welfare scandal
Rodney Bennett, former University of Southern Mississippi president, was issued a subpoena in August for communications with Favre, an alum of the university. Favre allegedly obtained funds from the MDHS to fund a new volleyball facility at the university in April 2017.
The MDHS requested Bennett to turn over electronic communications related to Favre’s effort to build the facility at the school, in which his daughter was a member of the volleyball team. Favre allegedly knew use of the money from the MDHS was illegal. He has continuously denied there was an agreement to fund the facility, or that use of the money, which originated from the TANF, was improper.
The subpoena calls for communications Bennett had with not only Favre, but Favre’s wife, Deanna, his friend, Eric “Poncho” James, former longtime attorney Bud Holmes and Bryant.
Favre has maintained his innocence through the allegations.
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