Writer’s Strike End a Boon for Sports Networks, Agencies
A month after publicly backing Brett Favre, Copper Fit has removed the former NFL star quarterback from its website.
Copper Fit was the lone company to publicly support the Hall of Famer when a spokesperson told Front Office Sports that Favre “has always acted honorably, and we know him to be a very decent man.”
As his association with the Mississippi welfare scandal received more scrutiny over the last several weeks, media companies and brands — including SiriusXM and ESPN Milwaukee — sidelined Favre.
But Copper Fit ads featuring Favre continued to run. On the compression sleeve company’s “Brand Champion” page, Favre was featured in a group photo with Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice and actress Gwyneth Paltrow
That group photo is now gone as is any mention of Favre on the page. Favre’s individual page on the Copper Fit site also disappeared. Content that includes Favre is still up on Copper Fit’s official Instagram and YouTube accounts.
A Copper Fit spokesperson declined comment with FOS reached out about the status of Favre’s partnership with the company.
The Copper Fit-Favre partnership stretches back nearly a decade, and ads featuring Favre have run on television over the last week.
“To our knowledge, he was cleared of any wrong-doing two years ago,” Copper Fit said in its statement last month. “We are confident that will be the case in the civil suit.”
Favre is among several defendants in a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, which dispersed federal welfare funds to projects that involved Favre. He also received $1.1 million from the state welfare agency for speeches he did not perform, which he repaid minus more than $200,000 interest.
In total, Favre is linked to more than $8 million in misspent welfare funds. Sources with knowledge of a state and federal criminal probe into the welfare funds scandal told FOS that Favre is on the radar of investigators.
Favre has denied knowing the money came from the from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds, which are supposed to go to supporting the neediest families in the country.
The Catholic prayer and meditation app Hallow appears to be the only company to still prominently feature Favre. Favre has three prayers on the app, which costs $8.99 per month to access.
Multiple messages going back more than a month left with Hallow have not been returned.
