A University of Mississippi freshman says a false rumor that went viral on X left her vomiting from anxiety as her phone was bombarded with calls and texts labeling her “a whore” and urging her to take her own life.
Mary Kate Cornett, 19, spoke to NBC News in her first television interview since sharing her story with The Athletic in an article published on April 1.
She addressed the fallout from the false rumor that she had slept with her boyfriend’s father, which rapidly spread on X in February after originating on another online app.
“If this happened to me, this could happen to anyone,” she told NBC News. “And there’s nothing I could have done to prevent what happened to me.”
Here’s what to know about the situation.
How did the rumor about Mary Kate Cornett start?
The Ole Miss freshman said it originated on the app YikYak, which is popular with college students. The anonymous message said a sorority sister at the school slept with her boyfriend’s father.
Cornett, who is a member of the school’s Kappa Delta sorority chapter, soon had her name and photo attached to the rumor in posts on X.
“It was so insane. It all happened so fast,” she told NBC News. “I was just in shambles. I just felt so helpless and so alone because so many people were hating on me for something that I had no idea anything about.”
The posts went viral in a matter of hours, she said. Cornett said by 7 p.m. that day, she was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States on X.
What did ESPN’s Pat McAfee say about it?
The popular on-air personality and former punter for the Indianapolis Colts, who has nearly 3 million subscribers on YouTube, referenced the viral posts on Feb. 26 in a two-minute segment on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which streams online and airs on ESPN. He did not mention Cornett’s name but alluded to the rumor during a segment with ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter talking about the NFL draft prospects of Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“Have you heard about Ole Miss?” McAfee asked Schefter.
“Parents weekend’s gonna be lit,” one of his co-hosts, Connor Campbell, chimed in.
McAfee then continued after Schefter asked him what the story is all about.
“Some Ole Miss frat bro, OK? Had a K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend — allegedly,” McAfee said. “At this exact moment, this is what is being reported by everybody on the internet: Dad had sex with son’s girlfriend.”
“And then it was made public,” he continued. “That’s the absolute worst-case situation.”
“So where is Jaxson Dart in all this?” a bewildered Schefter wondered.
“Ole Miss dads are slingin’ meat right now,” Campbell said.
The clip from the show remains on X, where it had been viewed 1.8 million times as of April 3.
“I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl’s ‘sex scandal’ that was completely false,” Cornett told NBC News.
Cornett said McAfee never reached out to her to ask about the rumor or get a statement. ESPN and McAfee declined comment to NBC News.
The rumor was also referenced on social media by Barstool Sports personalities Kevin Clancy (KFC Barstool) and Jack McGuire (Jack Mac), according to The Athletic.
A representative for Barstool Sports did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC News. The owner of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, said in a statement to Rolling Stone that the company did not mention the rumor “on any of our Barstool owned channels” because its editors determined “there was a high likelihood it could have been fabricated.”
He added that Barstool Sports “doesn’t control” employees’ personal social media accounts.
What was the fallout for Mary Kate Cornett from the rumor?
Cornett told NBC News that the viral rumor devastated her life even after she and her boyfriend posted on Instagram that it was false.
“Having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are is the worst feeling in the world,” Cornett said. “It makes you feel so alone. It’s a horrible experience.”
The freshman said she received “thousands” of texts and voicemails calling her “a slut” and “a whore” and telling her she deserves to die.
She recalled her lowest moment.
“It would probably be at 3 a.m. when I was throwing up while holding the phone with all the texts on it just saying how horrible of a person I was and I should end my life,” she said. “All because of an internet rumor that has zero truth to it. Zero.”
Cornett said she could barely leave her dorm room due to the attention from students on campus and had to switch to online classes. She added that someone appeared to swat her mother in Houston by making a fake 911 call that resulted in police coming to her mother’s home with guns drawn.
NBC News reviewed screenshots shared by Cornett’s attorney of security camera footage of the incident that appeared to confirm the swatting incident. NBC News has reached out to the Houston Police Department for comment.
A day after McAfee mentioned the rumor on his show, Cornett posted on Instagram about being swept up in it.
“First of all, this rumor is 100% completely false and it is quite frankly, inexcusable that such disturbing accusations went viral,” she wrote.
“It is important to note that harassment and bullying of this manner is NEVER okay,” she continued. “Cyber attacks based on nothing but lies and misinformation happen all too often.”
Cornett’s boyfriend also posted on Instagram that the rumor was “unequivocally false,” according to The Athletic.
Her father described the helplessness of seeing his daughter endure the situation.
“The only way I could describe it is it’s like you’re walking with your daughter on the street, holding her hand, and a car mirror snags her shirt and starts dragging her down the road,” Justin Cornett told The Athletic. “And all you can do is watch. You can’t catch the car. You can’t stop it from happening. You just have to sit there and watch your kid be destroyed.”
Mary Kate Cornett says she plans to take legal action against McAfee and potentially others
Cornett has enlisted Houston-based attorney Monica Uddin because she says she intends to take legal action against McAfee and possibly others who amplified the story.
“Defamation has existed for a long time,” Uddin told NBC News. “You can’t lie about someone with impunity — and that’s what has happened to Mary Kate. You can’t lie for money.”
“Not using her name is not a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, saying ‘allegedly’ is not a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card,” she continued. “These people are responsible for what they have done to her.”
“I’m not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views,” Cornett said.
Her father told NBC News he “wants justice.”
“The people that did this to her and her boyfriend and his dad deserve what they have coming to them,” he said.
