GQnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit September 16, 2024 BRETT LORENZO FAVRE, Lyle a qayee er Plaintiff—Appellant, versus SHANNON SHARPE, Defendant — Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 2:23-CV-42 Before SOUTHWICK and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and KERNODLE, District Judge.” LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge: This suit is between two former professional football players. The defendant ex-player was a co-host of a sports talk show during which he said the plaintiff stole funds from a government program meant for those living in poverty. The plaintiff sued for defamation, but the district court categorized the talk-show comments as hyperbole for which there was no liability. The " United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, sitting by designation. Case: 23-60610 Document: 79-1 Page:2 Date Filed: 09/16/2024 No. 23-60610 court dismissed the suit on the pleadings. We apply a different doctrine that also protects the comments and AFFIRM. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Brett Favre is a Mississippi native. He was a star football player for the University of Southern Mississippi (“USM”) and then had a lengthy professional career, primarily with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was named three times as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, had a Super Bowl victory, and was selected for the NFL Hall of Fame. Much more recently, his public image has been somewhat tarnished by his connection to individuals who were convicted for the misuse of government welfare funds and his alleged receipt of some of those funds. We start with an explanation of the misuse of funds. In October 2021, the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office determined more than $77 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF”) funds intended to help impoverished Mississippians were used for illegal purposes across the state. To date, six individuals have pled guilty to state and federal felony charges related to their involvement in this scandal. Favre has not been criminally charged. Mississippi’s Department of Human Services (“MDHS”) filed a civil suit in May 2022 against Favre and numerous ’ Both parties submitted documents to the district court that go beyond the four corners of Favre’s complaint to provide details on the welfare scandal. Although a “district court generally must not go outside the pleadings,” it “may consider documents attached to a motion to dismiss that are referred to in the plaintiffs complaint and are central to the plaintiff’s claim.” Sullivan v. Leor Energy, LLC, 600 F.3d 542, 546 (5th Cir. 2010) (quotation marks and citations omitted). The district court took judicial notice of documents and facts related to the welfare scandal, finding them “integral to Favre’s claim.” See id. We will not explore the reach of judicial notice but will set out some of these details because neither party objected to their use by the district court. Case: 23-60610 Document: 79-1 Page:3 Date Filed: 09/16/2024 No. 23-60610 persons, seeking to recover TANF funds that were unlawfully diverted between 2016 and 2019. MDHS initially sought to recover $1.1 million in TANF funds Favre received from the non-profit Mississippi Community Education Center, Inc. (“MCEC”) in 2017 and 2018 for speaking engagements that he never performed. Favre had repaid the funds prior to MDHS’s suit. MDHS amended its complaint to recover $5 million in TANF funds Favre allegedly arranged to be used to fund the construction of anew USM volleyball facility. According to MDHS, Favre was unable to encourage sufficient donations for the facility’s construction, so he turned to the non-profit MCEC to help secure the $5 million in funding. TANF funds were ultimately used on the project. Local and national news outlets continued to cover developments in the welfare scandal and Favre’s alleged involvement. During tha