The host of ESPN, Pat McAfee, promised to make “a kind of silver lining in a very terrible situation” after having amplified a sexual rumor on the Internet on a student of the University of Mississippi who, according to her, is false and “ruined” her life.
McAfee, on her eponymous program, discussed an online trendy rumor in an episode of February 26 on “Ole Miss Frat Bro” and her “Girlfriend KD (Kappa Delta)”. Citing the Internet, he told his listeners that “dad had sex with his son’s girlfriend … Then it was made public … This is the absolute situation of the worst case.”
Internet users had previously linked the rumor to the recruit of the University of Mississippi, 19, Mary Kate Cornett, who told NBC News earlier this month that the rumor was false. Her virality sparked a shift in harassment and insults that “practically ruined my life,” she said.
McAfee seemed to approach the problem during his live program “Big Night Aht” Wednesday evening at PPG Pains Arena in Pittsburgh.
He spoke to the previously continued by the former Brett Favre Football star before moving on to the fight against controversy.
“I am cool with Brett. Just like the current situation that occurs where I have a lot of people who say that I should be prosecuted. I mean this, I never want to be part of something negative in the life of anyone,” said McAfee.
“I didn’t want to add negativity anymore because it was going on … We will try to understand this and make a kind of silver lining in a very terrible situation,” he continued. “So you can have this promise on my part. It will not be as impossible to be one of my fan in the future.”
McAfee also shared a clip for these comments on X Wednesday evening.
He has not explicitly named Cornett nor the nature of the “terrible situation”. However, several X users responded to the clip for the call calling McAfee to apologize to it.
Cornett told NBC News that the scandal had started as an anonymous rumor spread over Yikyak, an application based on anonymous messaging used by some students. He then started on X with “hundreds and hundreds” of posts wrongly identifying him as the person in the center of rumor. The scandal only arrived when it was picked up by McAfee.
She told NBC News McAfee “never stretched her hand to ask me if it was true or for me to make her a kind of declaration.”
“I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sporting broadcaster talks about the” sex scandal “of a 19-year-old girl who was completely false,” she continued.
Cornett’s lawyer Monica Uddin said that she was thinking that her client was a victim of cyberbullying and that there are reasons for a defamation case. Cornett previously declared that she intended to bring legal action against McAfee and ESPN.
“Having your life ruined by people who do not know who you are is the worst feeling of the world,” said Cornett. “It makes you feel if alone. It’s a horrible experience.”
NBC News contacted McAfee and his lawyer to comment in response to McAfee’s Wednesday comments. Cornett’s family refused to comment on Thursday.
