UPDATED 4/4, 7:30 a.m. ET: When reached for comment by Complex following a newly released interview with Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett and her attorney, a rep for ESPN declined to comment.
As previously reported, the 19-year-old recently spoke with NBC News about being caught up in a “rumor that has zero truth to it,” with said claim eventually being mentioned, albeit without her name, during an episode of The Pat McAfee Show.
A rep for Mississippi’s Oxford Police Department, meanwhile, has confirmed to Complex that an investigation into what Cornett’s family previously described as a “defamatory cyberattack” remains ongoing, though no new updates were immediately available.
See original story below.
Pat McAfee and others could be facing legal action in connection with the spread of “an internet rumor that has zero truth to it,” Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett said in an interview shared this week. The interview, conducted by NBC News' Tom Llamas, marks the 19-year-old’s first such conversation since being embroiled in a viral claim she and her family were previously reported to have slammed as a coordinated cyberattack.
As reported back in February, a statement attributed to the student’s father theorized that claims of his daughter having a relationship with her boyfriend’s dad had first started as “some sort of fraternity prank” before exploding on social media. Meanwhile, a separate statement attributed to the student said that this “deliberate and coordinated” attack included the use of A.I.-generated videos and edited screenshots, with the ensuing harassment ultimately leading to her being doxxed.
Speaking with NBC News, Cornett reiterated that she still has “no clue” how, or why, the rumor was started in the first place, adding that she had “zero knowledge” of it initially. In less than three hours, however, the rumor was ubiquitous.
“Having the entire internet, half of the country, hating you and calling you disgusting things, telling you to kill yourself, telling you that you’re a horrible person, that you deserve to die, that’s a really hard thing for a girl to go through,” Cornett, who said she was called a “whore” and “slut” and forced to switch to online courses at school, explained in Wednesday’s interview.
A February episode of The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN saw the host and others briefly discussing the viral rumor, albeit without naming Cornett or anyone else caught up in the viral claims. An attorney for the student, per NBC, has confirmed plans for possible legal action against McAfee and the network.
Addressing such mentions of the rumor by McAfee and others, Cornett noted that the analyst and commentator, specifically, is someone who was “on my living room TV every night” prior to this incident.
“I used to look up these people and now these same people are making me feel worthless,” she said.
Complex has reached out to ESPN reps for comment. This story may be updated. In February, a rep for Mississippi’s Oxford Police Department confirmed to Complex that a report from the Cornett family had been taken, with an investigation still in progress at the time. Complex has since reached out to department reps for the latest information on the status of that investigation.