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Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy issues apology to Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett

by:Alex Byington•04/11/25•

_AlexByington

Dave Portnoy
Jun 3, 2021; Miami Beach, Florida, USA; Bar Stool Sports founder Dave Portnoy stands in the ring at World Famous 5th St. Gym. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Barstool Sports founder and CEO Dave Portnoy has publicly apologized for whatever role his organization played in helping amplify the “vicious rumor” involving 19-year-old Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett. The apology came on Thursday night.

During a recent interview that aired on Thursday night’s NBC Nightly News, Portnoy expressed regret for actions taken by Barstool personalities KFC Barstool and Jack Mac. That included a since-deleted social media video discussing the false and salacious rumor implying a sexual relationship between Cornett and her boyfriend’s father that went viral in late February that she says “practically ruined” her life.

“It’s a vicious rumor,” Portnoy told NBC News. “I’m sad, and I wish we didn’t play any part in it.” 

This move by Barstool comes just days after ESPN’s Pat McAfee publicly addressed the situation for the first time. McAfee said he would make a “silver lining in a very terrible situation” during his Big Night AHT show.

When asked directly by NBC News reporter Tom Llamas what he’d say to Cornett if he got the opportunity, Portnoy said he’d apologize and expressed empathy with “why the family is pissed.” Portnoy said he has been in discussion with Cornett’s lawyers and they are seeking mediation.

“Morally we were wrong,” Portnoy told Llamas. “I was bragging that morally I thought we were right.” 

Last week, Cornett and her family discussed with NBC Nightly News how the false rumor has negatively impacted her life, especially after famous sports media personalities propagated it. That includes ESPN host Pat McAfee, who discussed the rumor on the Feb. 26 episode of ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show without directly naming Cornett.

Earlier this week, McAfee alluded to the pending legal situation involving Cornett. McAfee acknowledged he “didn’t want to add any more negativity” to the situation during Wednesday’s “Big Night AHT with Pat McAfee and Friends” in Pittsburgh.

“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,” McAfee said without mentioning Cornett.

KFC Barstool, who’s real name is Kevin Clancy, issued his own public apology in a video posted to his personal X/Twitter account. In it, he talked about a since-deleted video discussing the rumor.

“I want to extend my deepest and most sincere apologies,” Clancey said. “I’m geniunely sorry to Mary Kate Cornett, her boyfriend, her father, her parents, friends, family, anyone who was negatively affected by just a bonehead decision I made to make really lame and really bad piece of content regarding some rumors that were being spread about her. … And now after learning those rumors were not true and seeing how much pain and embarrassment it has caused her and her family, I want to geniunely apologize for being apart of that in any way, shape or form.”

Jack Mac, who’s real name is Jack McGuire, also expressed regret in a public apology Friday morning.

“I regret these comments and want to apologize to Mary Kate, her boyfriend and both of their families,” McGuire wrote. He also added further to his apology, linking a GoFundMe that Cornett set up.

Mary Kate Cornett’s father calls out Pat McAfee for spreading viral rumor

The father of viral Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett made his strongest appeal yet to controversial ESPN host and analyst Pat McAfee in a sit-down interview with NBC Nightly News that aired last Wednesday night. Cornett, 19, recently revealed plans to take legal action against McAfee, ESPN as well as others for helping propagate a salacious online rumor that went viral on X/Twitter in late February.

Earlier this week in The Athletic, Cornett and her lawyer accused McAfee, as well as Barstool personalities KFC Barstool and Jack Mac and former NFL player Antonio Brown, of defaming her and publicly spreading “categorically false and defamatory information.” That regarded an alleged sexual relationship with the father of her boyfriend.

In multiple interviews this week, Cornett detailed the barrage of personal attacks and harrassment she and her family have faced in the month since the rumor went viral Feb. 25, which were only heightened after McAfee and others discussed it on their platforms. That included McAfee and his staff discussing a “ménage à trois” at Ole Miss — without directly mentioning any names — during the Feb. 26 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, which airs daily on ESPN at noon ET and is streamed live on YouTube to the show’s 2.8 million subscribers.

Justin Cornett, Mary Kate Cornett’s father, admonished McAfee for the damage his promotion of the online rumor has already had on his daughter and the rest of their family in the NBC News interview.

“When you have a microphone and you have a platform, you have a responsibility to take on that role with the respect of the people you report on being paramount,” Justin Cornett told NBC News as part of a Wednesday night segment. “If this were to happen to him, his daughter, his wife, someone he loves, he sure wouldn’t like it. When you have a microphone, you have a responsibility and it needs to be taken seriously.”