Erin Napier Scolded a reporter for mixing Ben Napier in a $70 million fraud scandal and how his name was cleared.

Newly uncovered evidence in the $77 million welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi has brought to light text exchanges between former Governor Phil Bryant and ex-NFL star Brett Favre.

These messages reveal Favre’s persistent and potentially illegal efforts to secure funding for a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), where his daughter was a team member.

A particularly surprising revelation from the court filings is a text from Bryant mentioning that HGTV’s Ben Napier had contributed to the construction efforts, raising serious questions and concerns about the extent of Napier’s involvement in the project. Here’s the latest update on the situation.

Texts Between NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre & Former Mississippi Governor Revealed in New Court Filing

In May 2022, the Mississippi Department of Human Services sued 38 individuals and organizations, including Brett Favre, for allegedly misusing approximately $77 million intended for state welfare programs to fund personal projects. According to the New York Times, Favre is accused of using millions to invest in a biotech startup and finance the construction of a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). This comes after Favre had already returned over $1 million in “speaking fees” paid by the state for motivational speeches he never delivered.

On September 13, 2022, Mississippi Today released a bombshell report featuring never-before-seen text messages from 2017. These messages revealed that then-Governor Phil Bryant was helping Favre access funds for the stadium, advising him on how to phrase his proposal to gain approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Investigative reporter Anna Wolfe detailed that these texts showed coordination with nonprofit leader Nancy New, who has since pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts of fraud, involving the allocation of tens of millions of federal welfare dollars to unrelated projects.

New’s son, Zach New, admitted in an April plea agreement to defrauding the government by devising a plan to disguise the USM construction project as a “lease” to circumvent rules prohibiting the use of welfare funds for “brick and mortar construction projects.” Favre’s lawyer asserts that the football star was unaware of the illegal funding. However, when Mississippi Today asked Favre in 2020 if he had ever discussed the volleyball stadium with Bryant, he denied it. The recently released texts between Favre and Bryant now prove otherwise, contradicting his earlier statement.

Erin Napier Scolds Investigative Reporter in Since-Deleted Tweet

So where or how does HGTV’s Ben Napier fit into this mess? His wife and “Home Town” co-host Erin Napier says he doesn’t, though she has since deleted her response, and it’s unclear why.

On September 24, Bryant publicly shared dozens of texts between himself and Favre, trying to prove that he didn’t know the football star was using welfare money for the USM volleyball stadium. Mississippi Today’s Wolfe reported that the provided texts from 2017 were only portions of their exchanges. Her reporting included the following excerpt:

Later, in May of 2018, Favre reached out again to Gov. Bryant for help constructing lockers for the facility.

“I’m still trying to save money on [the] Vball facility,” Favre texted.

Favre even suggested “the prison industry possibly as a builder.”

According to the court filing, HGTV star and woodworker Ben Napier assisted with constructing the lockers at Bryant’s request.

After Wolfe tweeted that last sentence as part of a thread regarding the breaking story, Erin Napier responded in a since-deleted tweet:

She wrote,

“Ben didn’t build lockers for anyone. The governor texted asking him if he could recommend someone to build wooden lockers, and Ben offered a recommendation for a cabinet maker we work with. You should get total clarity on a fact like this before you tweet it.”

Wolfe replied, “Thank you for responding! The public court file, attributed, and tweet say ‘assisted with’ locker construction, which sounds consistent with your account. I will further clarify now.”

On September 25, Wolfe issued a clarification on Twitter, writing:

“The public court filing says Ben Napier ‘assisted with locker construction … at Gov. Bryant’s request’ which, of course, there’s nothing wrong with. In a now-deleted Tweet, his wife Erin Napier says Ben simply gave the gov a recommendation for a cabinet maker.”

She screenshot the exchange between her and Napier and included it in her clarification tweet.

 

CLARIFICATION: The public court filing says Ben Napier “assisted with locker construction … at Gov. Bryant’s request” which, of course, there’s nothing wrong with. In a now deleted Tweet, his wife Erin Napier says Ben simply gave the gov a recommendation for a cabinet maker pic.twitter.com/1OlcwRSEXB

— Anna Wolfe (@ayewolfe) September 25, 2022

Further Details About Bryant’s Request to Ben Napier Revealed

In response to questions surrounding HGTV’s Ben Napier’s involvement in the controversy, investigative reporter Wolfe clarified with a tweet, sharing excerpts from a recent 70-page court document. The document explicitly states, “Ben Napier assisted with locker construction for the USM Volleyball Center at Governor Bryant’s request.”

 

Deborah and I enjoyed visiting with Erin and Ben Napier today in Laurel and presenting them with a resolution commending them for being a true Mississippi success story. If you haven’t already, check out their wildly popular show Home Town on HGTV. pic.twitter.com/WaB97Chp2a

— Phil Bryant (@PhilBryantMS) May 14, 2018

Further details emerged revealing that in 2019, Governor Bryant tweeted in support of the Napiers’ HGTV show and urged Brett Favre to retweet it. The tweet read, “Don’t forget the Season 3 premiere of Home Town, with Mississippians Ben and Erin Napier, comes on Monday night at 8:00 pm. We are proud of them for showcasing our great state on a national scale.” Bryant also informed Favre about Ben’s contribution to the volleyball complex, stating, “Ben helped us with the lockers for the Volleyball Complex. He and Erin’s show in Laurel is doing great. Thanks, brother,” to which Favre responded affirmatively.

On September 27, Wolfe tweeted screenshots of a specific text exchange from May 2018 between Favre and Bryant. In the exchange, Favre sought assistance for completing the volleyball facility, mentioning potential involvement from the prison industry in construction. Bryant, while away on a turkey hunt in Nebraska, assured Favre he would address the matter.

Days later, Bryant publicly shared via Twitter that he and his wife visited Laurel to honor the Napiers with a resolution celebrating their achievements. Photos from the meeting were also posted, although it remains unclear if Bryant discussed the locker construction with Ben during their encounter.

Bryant’s support for the Napiers predates the recent controversy. He and his wife attended the pilot premiere of their show in January 2016, as reported by the Laurel Leader Call, demonstrating early encouragement before HGTV officially picked up the series.