Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is repaying $1.1 million he received in welfare money for speeches that he didn’t make.
An audit of the Mississippi Department of Human Services shows that Favre was paid by the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit organization whose former leader has been indicted in a welfare embezzlement scheme, according to the Associated Press.
The Mississippi Community Education Center hired Favre’s company Favre Enterprises to have Favre appear at events, record promotions, and provide autographs for marketing materials, according to Neil Vigdor of the New York Times. The audit shows that Favre was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018.
Auditor Shad White has said his office has received a $500,000 payment from Favre. Favre will pay the rest in installments.
“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” White said in a statement on Wednesday. “To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”
Favre said in a series of tweets that he appeared in ads for the center and that he never received any money for obligations he didn’t meet.
1/4 My agent is often approached by different products and brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Families First.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) May 7, 2020
Favre should probably not do anything for the center again.
