With a possible lawsuit staring him in the face, ESPN show host Pat McAfee blinked on Wednesday.
The story began in February, when McAfee dipped into the fetid swamp of social media to cite a rumor that the father of an Ole Miss football player had a sexual relationship with his son’s girlfriend.
Although McAfee never named names, citing the rumor about a University of Mississippi student led to a deluge of publicity that painted Mary Kate Cornett, 18, in a highly unflattering light.
Cornett fired back on a GoFundMe page saying she was the “victim of a deliberate and coordinated cyberattack spreading categorically false and defamatory information.” Then she named names.
“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,” she wrote.
Other figures connected with the rumor apologized or pulled back, but McAfee held back, issuing a comment in April that he wanted to “make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation,” according to Awful Announcing. Cornett, meanwhile, hired legal representation as a possible first step in a lawsuit.
That moment arrived Wednesday, as McAfee finally addressed the issue with a full-on apology.
“As a lot of you know, on February 26 of this year, we were down at the Combine on this particular program. We discussed a very viral internet story about an Ole Miss college student. 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,” he said.
“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,” he continued.
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McAfee added, “I never want to be a source of negativity or contribute to another human’s suffering. And 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 and acknowledge that what I said about Mary Kate was based solely on what others were saying on the internet, or what had previously been reported by others, and that we had no personal knowledge about Mary Kate or her personal life,” he said.
McAfee tried to indicate he had a bond with the family.
“As a girl dad, I also was very thankful for the opportunity to let Mr. Cornett know that I was wildly regretful for the part that our show, our program, played in his daughter, Mary Kate’s, pain,” he said.
“I know many of you are wondering why I, or we, haven’t addressed this topic until now. It’s a fair question. But as you might imagine, there was a lot going on behind the scenes since this all happened. The most important element on the timing is that I, personally, it was a decision I made, wanted to talk to the family first before addressing it publicly,” McAfee added.
“And I can now say that I had the opportunity to meet them, chat with them, and they’re wonderful people. And I’m very thankful that they gave me the opportunity to tell them how sorry I was that this all happened, and that our program was a part of this,” he said.
“The matter was settled to each party’s satisfaction,” Justin Cornett, Mary Kate’s father, said, according to The New York Times.
“It was refreshing to stand by Mary Kate’s side and see a man that made a mistake look her in the eyes and apologize with sincerity,” he said, according to NBC. “Now the healing can begin.”
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