Pat McAfee has responded to accusations from a University of Mississippi freshman who claims he “ruined” her life by amplifying false rumors on his show.
During the broadcast of The Pat McAfee Show in February, the ESPN star discussed an internet rumor that student Mary Kate Cornett had an affair with her boyfriend’s father. McAfee did not mention Cornett by name on the show.
The college freshman spoke to The Athletic on April 1, criticizing McAfee for talking about the rumor on his program — especially since they were not related to sports.
McAfee broke his silence on the Ole Miss freshman scandal and the criticism he’s faced at his live “Big Night Aht” show in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“Just like the current situation that is happening, where I have a lot of people saying that I should be sued. I want to say this: I never, ever want to be a part of anything negative in anybody’s life, ever. That is not what I want to do,” he said.
McAfee praised his team of Pittsburgh-based lawyers, who he mentioned were present at the show that evening.
“I do believe that they have a suite here that I have certainly contributed to. They have the same mindset as me, empathy but understanding reality,” he added. “For that whole thing that’s happening, I didn’t want to add any more negativity as it was taking place like I did. We will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation. You can have that promise from me.”
He also quipped: “It won’t be as impossible to be a fan of mine going forward.”
Speaking to his ESPN co-hosts in February, McAfee extensively discussed the unsubstantiated and salacious story about Cornett having an affair. Though he never said Cornett’s name, McAfee joked about “shoehorning” college fathers into their combined analysis while one of his cohorts joked: “Ole Miss dads are slinging meat right now.”
Cornett has repeatedly condemned McAfee for spreading the rumor, which she called “categorically false.” During her interview with The Athletic, she said she wanted McAfee and other sports media personalities to be held accountable for their comments about her.
“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,” she said.
I'll never forget my first lawsuit 😂😂
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 10, 2025
We're good Brett Favre
I never wanna add negativity to a situation#BigNightAHT pic.twitter.com/nQFtoQSefL
She also told the publication that she has acquired legal representation, with plans to take action against McAfee and ESPN.
“This is just a Wild West version of a very familiar problem,” Monica Uddin, Cornett’s Houston-based attorney, said. “It’s just that it’s even worse because it’s not a company. It’s an 18-year-old girl.
During an interview with NBC Nightly, published on April 2, Cornett said that before McAfee made his viral comments, he “never once reached out to ask [her] if this was true or for me to give any sort of statement to him.”
“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,” she reiterated.
McAfee has courted controversy with his “progrum,” which he says is just a “collection of stooges” talking about sports and “to be comedic informative.” The show’s disclaimer acknowledges that it regularly goes over the line, specifically stating: “p.s. Don’t sue us.”
