Ole Miss freshman Mary Kate Cornett is going on the offensive after sports media figures helped amplify a false internet rumor about her relationship with her boyfriend.
Tuesday, The Athletic reported a piece detailing how Cornett’s life has been turned upside down thanks to prominent figures, particularly in sports media, discussing a false and unseemly rumor about her romantic life that went viral on social media. Specifically, Cornett is focusing on Pat McAfee, who talked about the rumor on his eponymous show, and threatening legal action against him and ESPN, the network which airs his show daily.
Wednesday evening, Cornett appeared on the NBC Nightly News for an exclusive television interview where she took direct aim at McAfee.
After showing the clip where McAfee discusses the rumor on his show, Cornett says, “I’m not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views.” Later in the interview, she continued, “I don’t think these boys know what they’re doing to people.”
As a result of the viral rumor, Cornett has been forced to switch to online classes at Ole Miss and was moved into emergency housing to avoid harassment.
Along with McAfee, prominent sports media figures including Barstool Sports personalities Jack Mac and KFC, former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, and ESPN St. Louis radio host Doug Vaughn contributed to the amplification of the salacious rumors.
Cornett’s family is threatening legal action. ESPN and Pat McAfee declined NBC News’ request for comment.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.