Pat McAfee Facing Potential Legal Action After Comments On Viral Affair Rumor

An Ole Miss college freshman, Mary Kate Cornett, was the subject of unsubstantiated claims that she had slept with her boyfriend's father back in February. She later released a statement on Instagram saying that the claims were “false,” “inexcusable,” and “disturbing.”

McAfee did not mention Cornett by name, but he did discuss and amplify the rumors with his staff on the February 26 broadcast of his ESPN show during a segment with NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Cornett told The Athletic that she wants McAfee, ESPN, and others who contributed to the rumor to be held accountable.

“I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done. 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.”Mary Kate Cornett

Regarding the fallout from the incident, she added that she can't "even walk on campus without people taking pictures of me or screaming my name or saying super vulgar, disgusting things to me."

McAfee did not respond to The Athletic's request for comment, while an ESPN spokesperson declined to comment.

McAfee returned to WWE commentary back in January for the Raw on Netflix debut after finishing up his ESPN College GameDay duties for the 2024 college football season.