Retired NFL star Brett Favre questioned the legality of $1.1 million in payments he received from a state-affiliated nonprofit after Mississippi investigators revealed the money came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds, newly unveiled text messages show.
Mississippi State Auditor Shad White made screenshots of the texts available in an April 2 court filing in the Hinds County Circuit Court, where Favre is suing him and alleging that the auditor defamed him in comments he made about the famous quarterback’s role in the welfare scandal. Prosecutors have not accused Favre of a crime, though he is a target in a state civil lawsuit.
Read State Auditor Shad White’s April 2, 2024, court filing.
“Is the money I was paid 100% legal for the radio commercials?” Favre wrote in a text message to Mississippi Community Education Center nonprofit operator Nancy New on May 13, 2020.
Prosecutors had indicted New and five others on felony charges earlier that year, including her son Zachary New former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, accusing them of directing millions in welfare funds to illegal purposes.
That included millions in TANF funds her nonprofit directed to Prevacus, a pharmaceutical company that Favre was invested in alongside its founder, Jake VanLandingham (a civil defendant who investigators have accused of a crime). New and Davis separately directed millions to a volleyball stadium project Favre wanted at his alma mater where his daughter played volleyball, the University of Southern Mississippi, along with multiple other projects unrelated to Favre.
New’s nonprofit also used TANF funds to pay Favre $1.1 million to give speeches and record promotional materials, with the first $500,000 payment arriving in December 2017.
“Nancy Santa came today and dropped some money off☺️☺️ thank you my goodness thank you,” Favre wrote to New on Dec. 27, 2017, in texts that appeared in court filings in the civil lawsuit in 2022. “We need to setup the promo for you soon. Your way to kind.”
In a text on May 13, 2020, Brett Favre asked indicted nonprofit leader Nancy New whether $1.1 million he received in
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