Pat McAfee apologizes to Ole Miss student months after amplifying false rumor

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Pat McAfee apologized to Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett on “The Pat McAfee Show” Wednesday, months after amplifying an unsubstantiated rumor involving Cornett, the fallout from which forced her to switch to online classes and move out of her dormitory.

The rumor, which involved a false claim involving Cornett’s romantic life, started on the anonymous messaging app YikYak in February before making its way to X and later the sports talk world, including posts by Barstool personalities KFC Barstool and Jack Mac, a discussion by ESPN radio hosts in St. Louis and a mention on McAfee’s show.

“I have since learned that the story was not true and that my show played a role in the anguish caused to a great family and especially to a young woman, Mary Kate Cornett,” McAfee said on his show on Wednesday.

In an interview with The Athletic in April, Cornett, who was 18 at the time, said that after the rumor took off, she had vile messages slipped under her dorm room door. Campus police told her she was a target, and she switched to online classes and moved to emergency housing.