Ex-Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is suing a reporter and Sports Illustrated’s former publisher over a May 2023 report that implied he was a driving force behind the state’s welfare scandal.
Bryant’s attorney filed the federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi last Thursday. Per the Mississippi Free Press, the defamation lawsuit names Sports Illustrated’s former publisher, The Arena Group, and the author of the May 2023 article, reporter Michael Rosenberg, claiming the story “alleges a conspiracy involving former Governor Phil Bryant.”
The 2023 article in question, written by Rosenberg and published by Sports Illustrated, is titled ‘The Driving Force’: How Brett Favre’s Demands for Cash Fueled a Scandal. Favre was named in a 2022 civil suit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, where he was accused of improperly receiving funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It is the largest public embezzlement scandal in state history, and the Sports Illustrated article alleges Bryant was a ringleader behind it.
From 2017 to 2019, Mississippi’s welfare agency director, John Davis, whom Bryant appointed, misallocated tens of millions of dollars intended as assistance for the state’s poorest families. Davis pleaded guilty to federal and state charges in 2022. Favre was among those who benefited from the misused funds, improperly receiving millions of dollars, most of which was used to build a volleyball stadium. The Hall-of-Fame quarterback continues to deny knowing the state money was intended as welfare funds.
Similarly, Bryant has denied any involvement in the Mississippi welfare scandal. However, the 2023 Sports Illustrated article wrote, “Davis largely operated on behalf of Mississippi’s then-governor, Republican Phil Bryant. And Bryant worked relentlessly to please the state’s most famous athlete, NFL legend Brett Favre.”
According to Bryant’s lawsuit, Sports Illustrated’s story “repackages similarly defamatory statements published by Deep South Today d/b/a Mississippi Today, its reporter Anna Wolfe, its editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau, and its chief executive officer Mary Margaret White on various occasions during the past few years.”
Wolfe received a Pulitzer Prize last May for reporting Bryant’s involvement in the welfare scandal. In July, Bryant filed a defamation lawsuit against Mississippi Today, seeking to add Wolfe to the complaint earlier this year.
Bryant’s latest complaint against Sports Illustrated demands “special damages including, but not limited to, past and future income losses, impairment of reputation and standing in local, state, national, and business communities, personal humiliation, mental anguish, suffering, and emotional distress.” The lawsuit also requests an apology and retraction from Sports Illustrated and Rosenberg. As of May 15, 2024, the May 2023 article remains on Sports Illustrated’s website.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com