ESPN host Pat McAfee has promised to make "some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation" after he amplified a sexual internet rumor about a University of Mississippi student that she says is false and "ruined" her life.
McAfee, on his eponymous show, discussed a rumor trending online in a Feb. 26 episode about "Ole Miss frat bro" and his "K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend." Citing the internet, he told his listeners that a "dad had sex with son’s girlfriend … then it was made public. … That’s the absolute worst-case situation."
Internet users had previously tied the rumor to Mary Kate Cornett, 19, a freshman at the University of Mississippi, who told NBC News this month that the rumor is untrue. Its virality has triggered a landslide of harassment and insults that have "practically ruined my life," she said.
McAfee appeared to touch on the issue during his live "Big Night Aht" show Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
He addressed having previously been sued by former football star Brett Favre before he transitioned to addressing the controversy.
"I’m cool with Brett. Just like the current situation that is happening where I have a lot of people saying that I should be sued. I want to say this: I never ever want to be a part of anything negative in anybody’s life," McAfee said.
"I didn’t want to add any more negativity as it was taking place. … We will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation," he continued. "So you can have that promise from me. It won’t be as impossible to be a fan of mine going forward."
McAfee also shared a clip of those comments on X on Wednesday evening.
He did not explicitly name Cornett or the nature of the "terrible situation." Several X users, however, responded to the clip of the speech by calling on McAfee to apologize to her.
Cornett told NBC News that the scandal started as an anonymous rumor spread on YikYak, an anonymous messaging-based app used by some college students. It then started trending on X with "hundreds and hundreds" of posts falsely identifying her as the person at the center of the rumor. The scandal only burgeoned when McAfee picked it up.
She told NBC News that McAfee "never once reached out to ask me if this was true or for me to give any sort of statement to him."
"I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl’s ‘sex scandal’ that was completely false," she added.
Cornett’s attorney, Monica Uddin, said she believes that her client was the victim of cyberbullying and that there are grounds for a defamation case. Cornett has said she intended to take legal action against McAfee and ESPN.
"Having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are is the worst feeling in the world," Cornett said. "It makes you feel so alone. It’s a horrible experience."
McAfee and her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment in response to McAfee’s comments Wednesday. Cornett’s family declined to comment Thursday.
