The founder of Barstool Sports wants to apologize to the first year student of the University, who was the victim of a false viral rumor amplified by two personalities affiliated with the popular sports site, he said Thursday.
Dave Portnoy said he understood why Mary Kate Cornett’s family, who told NBC News this month that false statements had “practically ruined” his life, he was “angry.”
“It’s a vicious rumor,” he said. “I am sad and wish I had not played any role in it.”
The false statements about Cornett, a 19 -year -old student from the University of Mississippi, circulated online when the host and ESPN Pat Mcafee analyst discussed them during a show in February.
Mcafee did not appoint Cornett, but discussed a rumor about the day of a student at the University of Mississippi sleeping with his boyfriend’s father.
He attributed the statements to “all on the Internet.”
After Mcafee shared a clip of the discussion with his 3.2 million followers in X, at least two people associated with Barstool sports referred to the rumor in publications in his personal accounts of X that have since been eliminated.
In a statement this month to Rolling Stone, Portnoy denied the participation of his site in the promotion of rumor, which he was probably “manufactured”, and said that one of his employees “published in something personal but we did not control them.”
In an interview with NBC News, Portnoy said he wanted to “vomit” after he learned that his site was connected to the rumor.
“We are morally wrong,” he said Thursday. “I was morally boasting, I thought we were right.”
Portnoy said he hopes to meet with Cornett’s family, although he said he is not sure of “how you put toothpaste in the tube.”
Portnoy said that his lawyers and Cornett’s lawyers have been in communication and that Cornett’s lawyers offered two paths: a demand or mediation. He said he planned to follow mediation.
Cornett’s family declined to comment.
His family’s lawyer has said that he believes that Cornett was a victim of cyberbullying and has reason for a defamation demand.
Cornett previously told NBC News that she and her family were harassed and faced a barrage of insults in the weeks after the rumor seized.
“Everything happened very fast,” said Cornett. “I was in ruins. I felt so helpless and just, because many people hated me for something I had no idea.”
Mcafee and his lawyer have not responded to comments requests. ESPN did not respond to the request for comments.
During a show on Wednesday, Mcafee described being sued by former soccer star Brett Favre and said: “I’m fine with Brett. Like the current situation that is happening where I have many people who say that it should be sued. I mean this: I never want to be part of something negative in anyone’s life.”
“We will try to solve that and do some kind of silver lining in a very terrible situation,” he said. “So you can have that promise of mine. It will not be so impossible to be a fan of me in the future.”
