The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held a hearing Tuesday on whether to reverse a federal judge’s dismissal of retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against sports talk show host Shannon Sharpe and reinstate the case.
Last October, U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett tossed Favre’s lawsuit on grounds that nothing Sharpe said amounted to defamation, which concerns untrue and reputation-damaging statements that are factual sounding rather than opinion. Starrett emphasized the First Amendment protects “rhetorical hyperbole” and “loose, figurative language” relating to matters of public concern.
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Favre objected to Sharpe, a fellow retired NFL player, telling listeners of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed that “Brett Favre is taking from the underserved,” “[Favre] stole money from people that really needed that money” and, “The problem that I have with this situation, you’ve got to be a sorry mofo to steal from the lowest of the low.”
Sharpe’s critique of Favre reflected media coverage of Favre’s connection to a high-profile scandal in Mississippi involving misuse of welfare funds. In 2022, the Mississippi Department of Human Services sued Favre and 37 others for unlawful payments, conspiracy and related accusations. Favre, who has not been charged with a crime and denies breaking any laws, allegedly conspired to arrange for $5 million in welfare funds to be used to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi.
In his brief to the Fifth Circuit, Favre (through his attorneys) insists that a reasonable listener could have understood Sharpe saying Favre “stole money” was a factual—not opinion— assertion. For that reason, Favre maintains the statement is “actionable defamation” rather than “rhetorical hyperbole.”
To bolster that point, Favre stresses Sharpe uttered the statement during what Favre terms “a serious segment” of Sharpe’s…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/favre-pursues-replay-sharpe-defamation-200155950.html
Author : Sportico
Publish date : 2024-07-09 20:01:55
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