ESPN’s Pat McAfee has made quite a name for himself thanks to his reach on media and social media — now he’s facing a lawsuit from a college student who accuses him of ruining hers.
The voluble host of “The Pat McAfee Show,” which is carried by ESPN and has almost 3 million YouTube subscribers, is officially a football analyst, but he’s known for comments that stray far from the X’s and O’s of gridiron play.
When he did that in late February to spread an apparently baseless rumor about a University of Mississippi student, he invited what could be a massive lawsuit against him.
On Feb. 26, on a show from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, McAfee made a national conversation of a rumor that an Ole Miss “dad had sex with son’s girlfriend.”
The topic had zero to do with the NFL Scouting Combine, though McAfee managed to work it into the conversation when the prospects of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart came up.
McAfee did not name names, but made it clear that he was talking about a rumor that “is being reported by everybody on the internet.”
The rumor involved Mary Kate Cornett, an 18-year-old freshman at the school who’d only heard it herself the day before, according to The Athletic, a New York Times website that focuses on sports.
Cornett’s “idyllic freshman experience was pierced on Feb. 25 when a spurious claim about her and her boyfriend’s father spread on YikYak, an anonymous message-based app popular among college students. It then gained traction on X and collided with the sports talk ecosystem to become a top trending topic that day,” The Athletic’s Katie Strang wrote.
And then McAfee made it part of a national show.
Do you think this potential lawsuit has merit?
On a GoFundMe page established by her father, Cornett describes the experience in terms that are by turns bitter and furious:
“I have been the victim of a deliberate and coordinated cyberattack spreading categorically false and defamatory information,” she wrote.
“Partially and wholly edited screenshots, fake AI generated videos and manipulated photographs have been promoted by irresponsible social media participants and amplified by thousands of fake accounts. Not to be outdone by the Bots, Irresponsible independent social media influencers with apparent ties to Barstool Sports and even major public figures like Antonio Brown and Pat McAfee who hosts ESPN’s College Game Day have shared these utter and complete lies with zero interest in the truth, but instead spreading outlandish conjecture.”
The Athletic report goes into considerable detail about the effects the rumor has had on Cornett’s life. She has received vile, threatening messages from strangers. She has been forced to take classes online because of the atmosphere on campus and even moved into emergency housing for security her dorm could not provide.
Her mother’s home in Houston was “swatted.” Her “89-year-old grandfather received a call in the middle of the night; the caller taunted him about his granddaughter.”
And Cornett has had it. She and her boyfriend have denied the rumor in no uncertain terms, but she wants to do more.
“I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done,” she said, according to The Athletic.
“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.”
According to the GoFundMe post, Cornett’s family has hired “forensic data investigators” to find the source of the rumor.
But the goal of the fundraiser is not for investigative expenses or legal bills, the post states.
It is to collect “seed capital establishing a foundation focused on helping innocent victims of similar defamatory cyber attacks.”
The episode where McAfee made the comments is below. The “rumor” part lasts about two minutes:
ESPN, an ostensible sports network known for skewing its coverage to fit its own agenda, declined to comment, according to The Atlantic.
McAfee did not respond to The Atlantic’s request for comment, according to the report.
But there were plenty of comments on the social media platform X, and it was tough to find even one defending McAfee or ESPN.
That @ESPNPR had no comment on this story is inexcusable https://t.co/smWVAoecKd
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) April 1, 2025
I have a pretty good vocabulary. I don’t have the words to describe how vile this is. @KatieJStrang w a terrifying read on the impact of irresponsible rumor spreading under the guise of reporting
https://t.co/2LQNU8unqn— Dana O’Neil (@DanaONeilWriter) April 1, 2025
As the mother of a teenage daughter, I can’t stop thinking about this story. This is what passes for “journalism” these days. This disgusting bro behavior has to end.https://t.co/aqCCFnnl5G
— Corri Hess (@CorriHess) April 1, 2025
The Atlantic report did not provide details of Cornett’s legal strategy or specify a goal, but article does make clear that her family is serious about making a case.
And the GoFundMe post makes it crystal clear:
“We have filed reports with University of Mississippi campus police, local police and the FBI,” Cornett’s statement said. “Rest assured, all criminal charges and civil remedies will be pursued vigorously.”
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