Pat McAfee’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed against him by Brett Favre got the attention of Favre’s lawyer. And now Favre’s lawyers are trying to rectify the flaws in Favre’s original filing.
Sports and gaming attorney Daniel Wallach has passed along a copy of Favre’s amended complaint against McAfee. The document, filed on Friday, elaborates on the claim that McAfee defamed Favre by claiming that Favre stole money from the “poor people” of Mississippi.
While the revisions address the cosmetic flaws contained in the original filing, Favre still might face an uphill climb when trying to prove that McAfee’s comments amount to defamation of a public figure. The reported facts and circumstances seem to justify exactly what McAfee was doing -- poking fun at the appearance that Favre may have indeed been aware that the public funding he allegedly, apparently, and/or actually was trying to finagle for one or more private projects was coming from cash that was allegedly, apparently, and/or actually intended for welfare recipients.
And even if Favre didn’t actually know where the money was coming from, the evidence and allegations that have surfaced in one or more public documents filed regarding the ongoing litigation (including text messages attributed to Favre) suggest he knew that something about the situation was potentially unsavory. Some would say that, otherwise, he wouldn’t have expressed concerns (as he allegedly, apparently, and/or actually did) about the media becoming aware of the situation.
Favre has said, through his lawyer Eric Herschmann, that Favre simply didn’t want the details of a private transaction to become public. As Herschmann told Fox News: “Brett entered into a private agreement to record a publicity pitch for a not-for-profit. Like most celebrities, he didn’t want his source of income to be public. That’s why he asked would it become public. He had no idea that the payment came from [welfare funds] and had he known, he never would have accepted that money.”
Whether it was from welfare funds or some other pot of public money, Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the nation. Any attempt to redirect money meant for public projects, whatever they might be, in Mississippi would seem to support commentary and/or jokes about Favre’s alleged behavior.
The amended complaint also hints that Favre’s lawyers might try to exclude from the current case any evidence about his alleged interactions with Jenn Sterger, which culminated in a $50,000 fine from the NFL for failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation into whether he sent sexually explicit photos to her at a time when both worked for the Jets. At paragraph 27, the amended complaint refers specifically to the notion that Favre “had never committed -- and had never been accused of committing -- theft, larceny, fraud, or any other such crimes.”
Basically, Favre’s eventual argument might be that this case is about the damage to his reputation as someone who would or wouldn’t commit “theft, larceny, fraud, or any other such crimes,” without regard to his pre-existing reputation based on the Jenn Sterger situation. Although I haven’t personally researched whether the laws of Mississippi or any other state allow a plaintiff to pick and choose specific elements of his or her reputation when pursuing a defamation case, it would seem to be difficult to argue that, by way of extreme example completely unrelated to this case aimed only at illustrating the point, calling someone like Jeffrey Dahmer a tax cheat would allow him to pursue a viable defamation case because his reputation for always paying the full amount of his taxes on a timely basis was unbesmirched.
For now, the litigation will proceed. McAfee will have an opportunity to respond to the amended complaint, possibly by filing a new motion to dismiss. Absent a dismissal, the case will move forward. McAfee will be questioned under oath. Favre will be questioned under oath. For Favre, the questions surely will focus heavily on what he knew and when he knew it about the money he allegedly, apparently, and/or actually was trying to get for projects like a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi.
There’s a chance Favre will achieve full exoneration through that process. There’s also a chance he’ll wish he hadn’t pulled the pin on this specific litigation grenade.