Attorneys for Fox Sports commentator Shannon Sharpe are trying to follow in the footsteps of lawyers for ESPN’s Pat McAfee by filing a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by former NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
Favre filed the lawsuit after Sharpe commented on the ongoing Mississippi welfare scandal.
“‘So, if that is the poorest state, Brett Favre is taking from the underserved,” Sharpe said. “You made a hundred plus million dollars in the NFL, and to talk about, well, [Favre] didn’t know. This is what Brett Favre texted, ‘If you were to pay me, is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?’
“He stole money from people that really needed that money.”
Sharpe’s lawyers say the First Amendment protects their client’s speech.
“Sharpe’s opinions — commentary based on reported facts and couched in rhetorical hyperbole regarding an issue of public concern about a public figure — lie at the core of the protections afforded by the First Amendment and Mississippi law,” Sharpe’s lawyers wrote. “Sharpe’s comments are not actionable, and the complaint is irreparably defective on its face.”
The judge has yet to rule on the motion.
The NFL world was quick to react to more horrible news for Favre:
Stay on their necks AJ!!!! Amplifying this because 🗣️BRETT FAVRE SHOULD BE IN JAIL!!!!! https://t.co/Z0YeMnWzQv
— Dawn (@_dawnmontgomery) May 4, 2023
Did Shannon lie?
— young sir (@Anaba1980) May 4, 2023
Favre is a scumbag
— Mr. E (@elkabong82) May 4, 2023
Brett Favre suing Shannon Sharpe says alot about our society
— Q_Anthony (@Cashmere_Brown) April 26, 2023
Brett Favre when he gets Herschel Walker as his cellmate: pic.twitter.com/6SmalBTz9g
— Cameron (@camctrail) May 4, 2023
