Pat McAfee has finally addressed an incident that made headlines five months ago. On Wednesday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” he apologized to Mary Kate Cornett, an 18-year-old Ole Miss student whose life was disrupted by erroneous gossip.
The apology follows months of legal threats and public pressure. McAfee admitted in the letter that his show had a large role in reporting & amplifying unverifiable gossip that caused a great deal of hurt for Cornett & her family. He said he had even met with the Cornett family personally to apologize before addressing it publicly.
What Pat McAfee Said About the Ole Miss Student
During Wednesday’s show, Pat McAfee delivered a lengthy and emotional statement about the incident.
“As a lot of you know, on February 26 of this year, we were down at the [NFL Scouting] Combine on this particular program,” he explained. (1:57:55)
“We discussed a very viral internet story about an Ole Miss college student,” he added.
The controversy began on Feb. 26 during coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine. McAfee and his show discussed what he described as a “very viral internet story” involving Mary Kate Cornett. The rumors falsely accused the Ole Miss student of engaging in inappropriate conduct with her boyfriend’s father.
Pat McAfee had said that the story was spreading like wildfire on the internet; of course, he did admit that his platform really pushed the false narrative further. The host admitted that his team did not fact-check the information before going on air.
“We weren’t clear at that time where the story originated from. It was all over the internet, yet by the time we talked about it, the story was everywhere,” McAfee said.
“I can now happily share with you that I recently got to meet Mary Kate and her family. And I got a chance to sincerely apologize to them,” he added.
How the Rumor Gained Traction Across Social Media
Besides Pat McAfee, Mary Kate Cornett had also singled out former NFL receiver Antonio Brown and Barstool Sports for pushing the false narrative. However, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy made it clear that the rumors had not been seen on any mention of his company.
The false allegations against Cornett quickly spread across social media platforms and in sports media. The 18-year-old student was the target of a malicious rumor mill that grew far beyond McAfee’s show.
What began as mere gossip, subsequently turned into a viral story which subsequently harmed an innocent person. The episode illustrates how rapidly false information can spiral out of control once it is too large for even a celebrity media figure to contain.
Cornett and her family moved quickly to take control of the false allegations. They got legal counsel and enlisted forensic data investigators to trace the origins of the rumors. The family made reports to several law enforcement agencies, including the University of Mississippi campus police, the local police department, and the FBI.
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