Mary Kate Cornett Breaks Silence On Viral Rumor That Ruined Her Life

Mary Kate Cornett went from college freshman to victim in a matter of hours, and it was all thanks to a rumor.

It started on the social app YikYak and made its way to X. The baseless rumors claimed that Cornett, who was dating a guy named Evan, allegedly hooked up with his father. Some texts that described the situation went viral on the platform, with one reading like a game of telephone gone off the rails. That didn’t stop thousands of people from buying into it, creating meme coins in her name, and bullying her. The Ole Miss student's phone number and address were leaked online. She received death threats and couldn’t go out in public.

Then Barstool Sports jumped in, amplifying the chaos and turning Cornett's nightmare into prime entertainment for millions of Americans. The company's founder, Dave Portnoy, has issued an apology for helping spread the lies. “It’s a vicious rumor,” he said. “I’m sad, and I wish we didn’t play any part in it.” 

Mary Kate Cornett Speaks Out

NBC News just aired a segment with Mary Kate Cornett herself. In the interview, her voice cracked under the weight of weeks of online torment. She said a false claim ruined her life. “Having the entire internet, half of the country hating you and calling you disgusting things, telling you to kill yourself, telling you [that] you are a horrible person and you deserve to die, that's a hard thing for a girl to go through,” she told NBC.

In just a few hours, she says, everything changed. “Within two and a half hours, later that night around 7:00 p.m., I was number one trending in the United States. I was having thousands of phone calls come through and texts, telling me I deserved to die.”

She could barely leave her dorm and had to switch to online classes. Someone even sent a fake 911 call to her mom’s house. ESPN’s Pat McAfee referenced the rumor on air (without naming her), adding fuel to the fire. She says that was when things hit rock bottom. "I don't think that these boys realize what they are doing to people. It's awful. It's awful. And having your life ruined by people who have no idea who you are, it's the worst feeling in the world. It makes you feel so lonely.”

The incels and chronically online trolls didn't believe the rumor because it sounded true; they believed it because they wanted it to be true, feeding a narrative that justified their own bitter hatred. And now, any time the name Mary Kate Cornett comes up, it will be associated with a scandal that turned out to be false.

Cornett wants justice. Meanwhile, ESPN and Pat McAfee declined to comment on NBC’s report, and no one’s apologized.  

For now, Mary Kate is holding onto the people who still see her as a person – her friends, her family, her father, who has stood by her through this. He told NBC, “I just want to know why. Why my daughter? She wasn't looking for any of this. She never asked for any attention. She was just trying to be a freshman in college.”

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