Brett Favre Asks Appeals Court To Reinstate Defamation Suit Against Shannon Sharpe

Brett Favre is not giving up on his legal fight against Shannon Sharpe. Favre's lawyers asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to revive a defamation lawsuit he filed against his fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member.

The suit stemmed from comments Sharpe made on FS1's Undisputed regarding Favre's involvement in an ongoing fraud welfare scandal in Mississippi.

In 2022, the Green Bay Packers legend was accused of accepting $1.1 million for speaking engagements that never happened. Favre was then linked to an additional $5 million that was used for a volleyball arena at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi. His daughter played on the school's volleyball team.

Sharpe called Favre a "sleazeball" and said that he "stole money from the people that really needed that money." The former tight end also asserted that someone would have to be a sorry person "to steal from the lowest of the low."

And even though Favre claimed the former tight end's words were "egregiously false," U.S. District Court Judge Keith Starrett defended his right to say them. He threw out the lawsuit in October, saying Sharpe's "rhetorical, hyperbolic" speech was protected under the First Amendment.

"Here, 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," Starrett wrote.

But Favre’s lawyer, Amit Vora, told three 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges in New Orleans that the lawsuit should be revived, arguing that Sharpe explicitly accused Favre of theft.

Brett Favre wants to revive his defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe.

(USA TODAY Sports & Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Sharpe’s attorney, Joseph Terry, told the judges that Sharpe’s remarks were clearly an opinion offered when he was asked about a news report on the Mississippi welfare scandal and how the reports would affect Favre’s legacy.

"If you read his comments in context, it’s quite clear that he was expressing his opinions rhetorically," Terry said.

Favre was never charged with a crime, but the state of Mississippi still has a lawsuit pending against him and others involved in the welfare scandal.