After Mary Kate Cornett implicated Barstool Sports in the unverified rumor that upended her life, Dave Portnoy felt his company deserved some credit.
The Barstool founder and CEO was looking for praise, noting that while personalities like Jack McGuire (Jack Mac) and Kevin Clancy (KFC Barstool) reacted to the internet frenzy surrounding the viral rumor, they did so outside official Barstool channels. Portnoy even questioned Pat McAfee’s choice to reference the story on ESPN loosely, contrasting it with Barstool’s decision to steer clear of the rumor entirely on its platforms mostly.
But now, Portnoy is changing his tune.
During an appearance on NBC Nightly News, the Barstool founder apologized to Mary Kate Cornett. This came just a few days after he acknowledged the possibility that Barstool could face legal action from Cornett despite what he described as the company’s restraint in choosing not to publish or promote the story on its own platforms.
Instead, the situation has morphed into a broader referendum on Barstool’s code of conduct and editorial principles. According to NBC’s Tom Llamas, Dave Portnoy has “worked to up Barstool’s editorial standards” in the aftermath. He also admitted he thought it was “really stupid” that his employees amplified the rumor, even if they did so through personal channels.
Dave Portnoy says he’s “worked to up Barstool’s editorial standards” in the wake of the viral Ole Miss student rumor, and that he hopes to pursue mediation with Cornett’s lawyers & avoid a lawsuit.
This comes after Pat McAfee spoke on the situation for the first time last night. pic.twitter.com/17QVSHj00G
— Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) April 10, 2025
But according to the Daily Mail, it wasn’t just Barstool personalities acting independently.
Charles Nicholas Longley (Nicky Smokes) reportedly uploaded commentary about the terrified student to an official Barstool Sports social media account. The Daily Mail revealed that Longley posted the allegations in a since-deleted clip on the official “Barstool U” Instagram account.
Barstool’s editorial standards have long operated in a gray area. More reactive than proactive, more vibes than policy.
That said, Dave Portnoy hasn’t always looked the other way. He fired Francis Ellis in 2019 over a since-deleted blog post about a missing college student. Ellis is now back with the company, though.
While Portnoy now claims to be tightening oversight, the situation exposed apparent gaps in Barstool’s editorial guardrails. Even as he praised the company’s decision not to cover the rumor officially, the involvement of a Barstool-run account suggests that not everyone got the message.
