Pat McAfee is making his amends.
The ESPN host offered up an apology to Mary Kate Cornett during Wednesday’s episode of his titular show, five months after he brought up a rumored scandal involving the 18-year-old Ole Miss student.
“As a lot of you know, on February 26 of this year, we were down at the [NFL Scouting] Combine on this particular program,” he said. “We discussed a very viral internet story about an Ole Miss college student. We weren’t clear at that time where the story originated from. It was all over the internet, yet by the time we talked about it, the story was everywhere. I have since learned that the story was not true, and that my show played a role in the anguish caused to a great family, and especially to a young woman, Mary Kate Cornett.
“I think you all know from tuning into this program that I never want to be a source of negativity or contribute to another human’s suffering. And I can now happily share with you that I recently got to meet Mary Kate and her family. And I got a chance to sincerely apologize to them and acknowledge that what I said about Mary Kate was based solely on what others were saying on the internet, or what had previously been reported by others, and that we had no personal knowledge about Mary Kate or her personal life.”
Cornett, her family and her boyfriend all denied the salacious rumor, which accused Cornett of sleeping with her boyfriend’s father.
The rumor took the internet by storm, and Cornett specifically called out McAfee, former NFL receiver Antonio Brown and Barstool Sports for amplifying the gossip, though Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy noted it never appeared on any official channels.
The teen and her family also hired legal representation and forensic data investigators to look into the matter, said she filed reports with the University of Mississippi campus police, local authorities and the FBI, and threatened McAfee and ESPN with legal action.
McAfee, who did not name Cornett on his show, seemed to address the incident during his “Big Night Aht” at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh in April, but carefully avoided mentioning specifics.
That wasn’t the case on Wednesday, when he brought up his meeting with the Cornett family and the personal elements at play.
“As a girl dad, I also was very thankful for the opportunity to let Mr. Cornett know that I was wildly regretful for the part that our show, our program, played in his daughter, Mary Kate’s, pain,” he said. “I know many of you are wondering why I, or we, haven’t addressed this topic until now. It’s a fair question. But as you might imagine, there was a lot going on behind the scenes since this all happened. The most important element on the timing is that I, personally, it was a decision I made, wanted to talk to the family first before addressing it publicly. And I can now say that I had the opportunity to meet them, chat with them, and they’re wonderful people. And I’m very thankful that they gave me the opportunity to tell them how sorry I was that this all happened, and that our program was a part of this.
“I deeply regret all the pain that this caused. I hated watching what our show as a part of, in her interviews and reading about it. And my hope is that this can be something that we all learn from going forward. I know we certainly have. Our goal at this show is to make the world a happier place, a better place. To celebrate life and sports and unify folks. I, and we, don’t always get it right. But we’ll never stop trying.”
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