Favre allegedly received money from a nonprofit for speeches, and the money originated from a federal welfare program, according to Mississippi officials. Favre has repaid the funds, but not interest, according to Mississippi Auditor Shad White.
Sharpe criticized Favre on his Fox Sports show in 2022 after the allegations came to light. He said that Favre “is taking from the underserved” and “stole money from people that really needed that money.”
The comments were “defamatory and slanderous,” according to a suit Favre lodged against Sharpe.
Starrett wrote that “no reasonable person listening to the Broadcast would think that Mr. Favre actually went into the homes of poor people and ... committed the crime of theft/larceny.”
Favre appealed, with his lawyers alleging the district court erroneously ruled against him. Sharpe “defamed Favre by stating that Favre stole money and did so from the underserved,” the appeal stated.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the ruling in Monday’s decision, finding that Sharpe’s remarks “could not have been reasonably understood as declaring or implying a provable assertion of fact.”
The remarks “are better viewed as strongly stated opinions about the widely reported welfare scandal,” U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie H. Southwick wrote for the unanimous panel of judges assigned the appeal.
U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan and District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, sitting by designation, were also part of the panel.
Sharpe’s co-host noted during the same segment that Favre had not been criminally charged and highlighted how Favre had repaid the $1.1 million in question. Some other individuals linked to the program have been charged and pleaded guilty. Sharpe also told viewers that Favre has said he did not know the funds came from a welfare program.
“Because Favre does not allege any remaining statements in the broadcast were false, there were no actual inaccuracies,” Southwick said. “Instead, the facts were fully disclosed to the listeners and contained no ‘clear falsity of fact.’'”
While Favre understandably finds the remarks about him contemptuous, Sharpe had a right to relay publicly known information in a caustic way, the judge concluded.
“We are gratified that US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed Mr. Sharpe’s right to speak out and express his opinions on important public controversies,” Joseph Terry, a lawyer representing Sharpe, told The Epoch Times in an email.
A spokesperson for Kasowitz Benson Torres, which is representing Favre, told The Epoch Times in an email, “While we respectfully disagree with the outcome of the decision and are assessing our options, we are gratified that the appeals court recognized that it was ‘understandable’ that Mr. Favre ‘considers Sharpe’s statements to be contemptuous’ and that Sharpe’s statements characterized the facts ‘caustically and unfairly.’”
