Pat McAfee, the host of “The Pat McAfee Show,” may be headed for legal jeopardy as a result of his comments that propagated a false rumor concerning Mary Kate Cornett, a freshman student at Ole Miss. It is noteworthy that this rumor, which had been disseminated by doctored screen captures and fabricated videos, accused Cornett of having an affair with her boyfriend’s dad.
Despite not mentioning her explicitly, McAfee’s jests about this rumor on his show, which were aired on the 26th of February, played a major role in its widespread dissemination. Other culprits in housing this rumor included personalities like Antonio Brown from Barstool Sports. Unfortunately, the skyrocketed popularity of the rumor resulted in extreme levels of cyberbullying, threats, and even a swatting occurrence targeting Cornett’s mother.
The now-controversial segment on “The Pat McAfee Show” ran for about two minutes, during which McAfee explicated, “Some Ole Miss frat bro, ‘kay? 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.” Despite attempts by ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter to downplay the incident, discussions about the rumor carried on, with McAfee humorously relating it to “shoehorning” college dads in their combine analysis. Another host humorously suggested, “Ole Miss dads are slinging meat right now.”
In response, Cornett, her boyfriend, and her family have all refuted the rumor. Her father stated that he has collaborated with a private investigator to look into this cyberattack, labeling it “defamatory.” Elsewhere, Cornett has secured legal counsel with intentions of seeking damages from McAfee and ESPN, among others who helped propagate the rumor. A memecoin was even made in Cornett’s name and experienced a surge in value on February 26th, prompting her legal team to consider actions against opportunistic promoters.
A distressed Cornett shared with The Athletic, “I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done. You’re ruining my life by talking about it on your show for nothing but attention…” Her attorney further asserted, “They elevated a lie from the worst corners of (X) to millions of general sports fans just to get a few more clicks and ultimately a few more dollars… the lie is chained to Mary Kate for the rest of her life.”
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