Mary Kate Cornett ‘scandal’ explained: Ole Miss student slams false rumor that ‘ruined her life’
Instagram: marykate.cornettAfter a false rumor spread in February, regarding University of Mississippi student Mary Kate Cornett, alleging she had an affair with her boyfriend’s father, she has spoken out on the damage it caused her.
The claims, which spread like wildfire on X, and were discussed on the Pat Mcafee show, were based on little more than screenshots of conversations, sparking discussion and even the creation of a meme coin in her name.
Now, over a month later, Cornett has spoken out, saying the rumor “practically ruined my life.”
What is the Mary Kate controversy?
The so-called scandal began due to a screenshot of a Snapchat message chronicling the salacious claims.
According to the message, Cornett took her boyfriend Evan’s younger sister to a basketball game, accompanied by Evan’s father. After dropping off the child, Cornett and Evan’s father allegedly went out for dinner and drinks, and then allegedly “got with each other.”
“They went to like dinner and drinks, and he was buying her drinks and stuff, and then they like got with each other or something. And then, um, that was like the first time,” the message reads.
X: MAGAgeddonThe alleged Snapchat messages also mention that Evan’s mother was aware of the situation but was not pursuing divorce, and that the father’s previous infidelity played a role in her decision.
Mary Kate slams rumors & promises legal retaliation
In a Facebook post published by her father, Justin Cornett, the day after, Mary Kate slammed the rumors surrounding her, calling them “categorically false and defamatory.”
Both she and her father say they have filed police reports with both Oxford and the University of Mississippi, and that they were even contacted by the FBI.
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Mary Kate also stated that she has received “thousands of harassing calls and texts of a sick and demented nature, some of which suggest I even take my own life.”
Mary Kate and her father have started a GoFundMe to benefit victims of cyber attacks who don’t have the resources to retaliate against such defamatory rumors, which has raised over $11K at the time of writing.
“My heart breaks for the victims of defamatory cyber attacks and public doxxing like this,” Mary Kate wrote. “…I pray for the strength and courage to use this unwanted attention as a platform to help others whose lives have been turned upside down in similar circumstances.”
Speaking with NBC on April 3, Cornett said they are considering legal action against ESPN’s Pat McAfee.
“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.”
Amid the viral frenzy in February, a meme coin was also created, simply named “MKC” or “Mary Kate Cornett.”
The market cap of the coin peaked at over $700,000, before falling rapidly
Cornett’s Instagram page went private with the profile picture removed as a result of the drama – and just two days later, she and her family gave their response.