A judge in Mississippi has thrown out defamation allegations brought by Phil Bryant, arising from claims of a $77 million welfare fraud scandal reported by Mississippi Today, which also implicated Brett Favre. The controversy first emerged in 2020, gaining widespread attention because it involved the Green Bay Packers icon, who is both an NFL Hall of Famer and the Super Bowl XXXI MVP against the New England Patriots.

The issue gained further traction in September 2022 when Mississippi Today released text messages between Favre and Bryant, who was the state’s governor at the time. These texts revealed a scheme to divert $5 million from federal welfare funds to construct a new volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, where Favre’s daughter was playing volleyball.

In one message, Favre asked, “If you were to pay me, is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Mississippi Today garnered a Pulitzer Prize for this investigation, but Bryant was determined to address the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against the publication.

According to ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada, Judge Bradley Mills of the Madison County Circuit Court dismissed the suit, which Mississippi Today had criticized as “baseless.” The court ruled in favor of the media outlet, who celebrated the decision and stated, “The reporting stands on its own. The truth stands on its own.”

This ruling spared journalists Adam Ganucheau and Anna Wolfe from potential imprisonment for contempt of court. The court’s decision is a significant setback for Bryant’s efforts to rehabilitate his reputation and silence the scandal after nearly two years of legal conflict with the media outlet.

Bryant, who was Mississippi’s 64th governor from 2012 to 2020, intends to appeal the decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court, as stated by his lawyer, Billy Quinn.