NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre is facing another court action.
Lawyers for former Indianapolis Colts punter and current media personality Pat McAfee are seeking to dismiss Favre’s defamation lawsuit against their client.
On The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee commented on Favre’s Mississippi welfare scandal by saying that he had “tied the hands of poor people” and “took money right out of their pockets.”
McAfee also joked that Favre belonged to the Sticky Bandits, the incompetent duo of robbers that served as the antagonists in the American motion picture classic Home Alone.
Favre demanded a retraction from McAfee and sued when McAfee refused the demand.
“As a public figure bringing suit against a media defendant for reporting on matters of public concern, which are subject of official proceedings and detailed at length in public records, Favre cannot state a claim for defamation upon which relief can be granted,” attorneys for McAfee wrote.
The lawyers claim that McAfee was engaging in hyperbole in the trademark style of “unconventional and humorous reporting on hot topics in sports.”
“No reasonable listener would have interpreted his comments as actual statements of fact about Favre,” they wrote.
“A verbatim recitation of these facts… would have produced no different effect on the minds of The Show’s listeners than McAfee’s hyperbolic rhetoric.”
The NFL world was quick to react to the horrible news for Favre:
👀 haven't read the full complaint but can't see how Farve can show actual malice. https://t.co/x0hlcJykMn
— Michaela Cogswell 🦋🐻 (@Michaela_Cogs) April 28, 2023
So, the way to defend a defamation suit is to continue to defame the plaintiff.#GoodToKnow https://t.co/tuom4I0Z40
— OldSaltCityAce 🇺🇸 🏴 👑 (@OldSaltCityAce) April 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/moonovermakeba/status/1652393324937109504
I hope @PatMcAfeeShow wins. Farve is a stooge. https://t.co/udFyfnNhfL
— A-aron NFL (@aaron_nfl) April 29, 2023
Brett Favre need to leave Pat McAfee alone. Enough already. This is like Triller suing H3H3. Why hasn’t some judge thrown it out.
— cultural observer (@TwinOfTiger) April 28, 2023
[WLBT]
