Brett Favre has dropped the defamation lawsuit that he filed against Pat McAfee.
During Thursday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show,” McAfee shared the news that Favre is no longer suing him. The former Indianapolis Colts punter said Favre withdrew the suit without any settlement between the two parties.
Full update on the Brett Favre lawsuit: pic.twitter.com/wmZfVKcNji
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 11, 2023
“I am pleased to report that based solely on me, again, clarifying these points now, with no settlement paid, Brett is withdrawing his suit against me,” McAfee said. “I would much rather talk about sports than lawsuits, so I’m glad we have all of this behind us. We now move on.”
Favre confirmed the news with a tweet.
I'm happy that Pat McAfee and I have settled this litigation. Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We'd both much rather talk about football.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) May 11, 2023
“I’m happy that Pat McAfee and I have settled this litigation. Like Pat said, he was attempting to be funny and not commenting based on any personal knowledge. We’d both much rather talk about football,” Favre wrote.
Favre said he and McAfee “settled” the lawsuit, but he must not have meant that in the legal sense. According to McAfee, there was no settlement between the two sides and Favre simply dropped the suit.
Favre had sued McAfee and FOX’s Shannon Sharpe over comments they made about Favre’s alleged involvement in a welfare fraud scheme. Favre allegedly received $1.1 million in welfare funds in his home state of Mississippi for speeches he never made. The Hall of Fame quarterback has also been accused of using welfare funds to pay for a new $5 million volleyball arena at Southern Mississippi. Favre has not been charged in the case but has repaid $1.1 million in debt to the state. He has claimed he had no knowledge of where the money he received came from.
McAfee filed a motion in March to dismiss the lawsuit and called it a “joke.” He said he was sharing public information and that it was an attack on the first amendment for Favre to sue him over it.
Favre has denied any wrongdoing, but his involvement in the massive fraud investigation has been widely reported. The Green Bay Packers legend is a public figure, so he stood little chance of winning the defamation suit.
