19-year-old Mary Kate Cornett is exploring legal action after a completely fabricated rumor accusing her of sleeping with her boyfriend’s father went viral, trending #1 on X and amassing hundreds of millions of views.
The false claim originated on the anonymous app YikYak before spreading to mainstream social media, where Cornett’s image was falsely attached to the story.
She blames ESPN’s Pat McAfee for amplifying the baseless scandal without verifying facts. “This has affected me in such an awful way and has practically ruined my life,” Cornett stated. She emphasized that McAfee never contacted her for comment, calling it “absolutely ridiculous” that a major sports broadcaster would spread an unverified rumor about a teenager.
The fallout has left her reputation in tatters, with legal recourse now under consideration.
NEW: Ole Miss freshman speaks out after a rumor went viral claiming she had slept with her boyfriend’s father.
This story is insane.
19-year-old Mary Kate Cornett is reportedly considering legal action after the rumor went viral, trending number 1 at one point on X.
Cornett… pic.twitter.com/j7DCmPi9Vf
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 3, 2025
This story is insane.
19-year-old Mary Kate Cornett is reportedly considering legal action after the rumor went viral, trending number 1 at one point on X.
Cornett says her life is ruined after a fake allegation randomly went viral throughout the internet, racking up hundreds of millions of views.
The rumor started on the anonymous messaging app YikYak that someone named ‘Mary Kate’ was sleeping with her boyfriend’s father.
People then started connecting the written claim on the app with her image which eventually made its way to other social media apps.
Cornett is reportedly considering legal action against ESPN’s Pat McAfee for talking about the story.
“This has affected me in such an awful way and has practically ruined my life,” Cornett said.
“[McAfee] never once reached out to ask me 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 ‘s*x scandal’ that was completely false.”