Screengrab via ESPN

The family of Mary Kate Cornett, the Ole Miss student accused by an anonymous X account of sleeping with her boyfriend’s father, has spoken out for the first time. In a statement on her father’s Facebook page, she has singled out Pat McAfee and Barstool Sports for “spreading outlandish conjecture.”

The drama began this week when photos were posted of a Snapchat message alleging Cornett was engaged in an affair with Erik Solis, the father of her boyfriend—typical tabloid fare.

For whatever reason, this particular story went massively viral online. Even sports personalities like Barstool Sports’ Kevin Clancy and ESPN’s Pat McAfee referenced it to varying degrees on their platforms.

Now, a Facebook user who seemingly is Cornett’s father, Justin, posted a statement allegedly from Cornett, in which she names these two and former NFL receiver Antonio Brown. The statement also says police reports have been filed in Oxford with the University of Mississippi campus police and the FBI.

Before naming Barstool, McAfee, and Antonio Brown, Cornett states that she is a victim of a “deliberate and coordinated cyberattack spreading categorically false and defamatory information.”

Mary Kate Cornett’s Facebook statement

While Cornett’s statement references the creation of a cryptocurrency “meme coin” in her name and alleged doxxing of personal details, it is unclear whether the conversations from Barstool or The Pat McAfee Show clear the threshold of defamation.

Kevin “KFC” Clancy posted a rumors roundup to his TikTok and X feeds. At the same time, McAfee and his crew discussed the rumors after Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart appeared in a segment with NFL insider Adam Schefter.

In the full segment on PMS, McAfee and Co. describe an Ole Miss student allegedly sleeping with her boyfriend’s father. However, they correctly refer to these rumors as allegations and do not use Cornett’s name. McAfee is no stranger to fighting defamation charges, having survived a lawsuit from Brett Favre in 2023. Notably, the full stream of Wednesday’s episode was unavailable on McAfee’s YouTube channel as of Thursday midday.

Clancy, for his part, also refers to the details as allegations. The video features Clancy explaining photos and videos rounded up from the internet without much elaboration.

While the Cornetts claim they have filed local and federal criminal reports, it is unclear whether they have or will file defamation lawsuits toward any of the sports personalities listed.

About Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.