Shannon Sharpe reacts to Kim Mulkey, Washington Post standoff as article looms over NCAA Tournament run

LSU coach Kim Mulkey is not happy with a Washington Post story about her that is apparently set to be released in the coming days.

Mulkey said over the weekend that she has hired “the best defamation law firm in the country” to fight back against the reporter who is working on the story. She added that “it’s these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of.”

Mulkey is upset with how the reporter went about getting people to talk to him for the story. She said that she was asked to do an interview for two years but declined because of “the hit job he wrote on Brian Kelly.” Finally, she added that she was given questions on Tuesday to answer by Thursday, just as LSU was beginning play in the NCAA Tournament.

Shannon Sharpe offered his thoughts on the comments by Kim Mulkey and the upcoming Washington Post story during First Take Monday morning.

“She has every right to defend her name. I won’t get in conjecture, inuendo or speculation of what this article is about. … But she said she’s hired the best defamation firm in the country. I would’ve gotten with my attorneys, and I’ve had said, ‘Hey, you guys handle this. If there’s something that I need to answer, one or two questions that’s not going to put me or the university – my former university or my current university in harm’s way, I have no problem answering these questions,'” Sharpe said.

“‘If you think this is something that might harm either one of these universities, or myself, I have nothing to say. You write what you write, and if I think it’s inappropriate, I think you said something defamatory, well hey, this is what I hired you guys for.’”

Shannon Sharpe has no problem with Kim Mulkey hiring a defamation lawyer, but he’s not sure that bringing so much attention to the story was the right move.

There’s no doubt that the article will get plenty of attention when it comes out, in part because of what Kim Mulkey said about the piece.

“What Kim Mulkey is trying to do is get in front of this story. She knows it’s coming. But what she’s done is peaked the curiosity of a lot of people that no longer read the paper, let alone the Washington Post. They don’t read the newspaper like that. But because she’s come out in such a harsh fashion, people want to read about this article and see what it has to say, because she says it’s about her,” Sharpe said. “I guess it’s a profile piece on her. So people now want to read and hear what, I guess, some of her former players had to say about her, maybe some of her former coaches. I don’t know.

“But it’s a profile piece on Kim Mulkey. She’s trying to get in front of it, because she believes there’s going to be something inflammatory in there. So I would let my law firm handle it. That’s what I hired them for. … ‘Aye, if you’ve got something to ask me, ask them. They’ll ask me and then I’ll get back to you at an appropriate time.’”