ESPN
Audio By Carbonatix
Mary Kate Cornett, an 18-year-old freshman student at Ole Miss University who was the subject of a vile targeted online harassment campaign, plans to sue The Pat McAfee Show and other radio programs/shows that proliferated the disinformation about her.
In late February, a rumor spread online — beginning on YikYak then moving to Twitter before eventually being discussed on The Pat McAfee Show — indicating that Mary Kate Cornett, a totally unremarkable (in the sense that she’s just a regular college student with no fame or celebrity) freshman at Ole Miss University, had slept with her boyfriend’s father.
The fake story become popular on the “Burnerverse” on Twitter before eventually making its way to Pat McAfee’s desk, who then discussed the story on the February 26 episode of his nationally-televised show.
McAfee is 37-years-old, married, and has a child. His popular ESPN radio show features a news ticker on the bottom of the screen that says: “P.S. Don’t sue us.”
“Have you heard about Ole Miss? There is a ménage à trois,” began a McAfee Show co-host before the former Colts punter added that the story [which, as a reminder, was about the falisified private romantic life of a teenager] “has really captivated the internet.”
“Some Ole Miss frat bro, k? Had a K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend. At this exact moment, this is what is being reported by … everybody on the internet: Dad had sex with son’s girlfriend,” stressing the world ‘allegedly’ throughout. “And then it was made public … that’s the absolute worst-case situation.”
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Cornett says that she had to be moved into emergency housing as a result of the subsequent threats she received before eventually switching to online courses. The Athletic reports that the Cornett family plans to take legal action again McAfee, ESPN, and potentially others, with Cornett indicating that she wants people held account for “ruining her life.” Cornett tells The Athletic that she now worries about things like her ability to get a job and her future children finding the stories about her.
“I (can’t) even walk on campus without people taking pictures of me or screaming my name or saying super vulgar, disgusting things to me,” she said.
In addition to Mary Kate, her family — including her boyfriend and 89-year-old grandfather — have also been harassed in recent weeks. Mary Kate has not returned to in-person classes and rarely goes out in public on campus.
“Cornett engaged legal representation and said she intends to take action against McAfee and ESPN, which airs his show, and potentially others involved in spreading the rumor,” The Athletic reports.
“I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done,” she said. “You’re ruining my life by talking about it on your show for nothing but attention, but here I am staying up until 5 in the morning, every night, throwing up, not eating because I’m so anxious about what’s going to happen for the rest of my life.”
Both ESPN and McAfee did not respond to The Athletic’s response for comment, perhaps on the advice of legal counsel.
“These folks … they can just say whatever they want and destroy a young girl’s life forever,” said Justin Cornett, Mary Kate’s father. “No one’s safe from this sort of attack. It could happen to you, it could happen to someone you love.”