Barstool Sports personality Kevin Clancy, also known as KFC, has issued a groveling apology to Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett after he recently spread the salacious false sex rumor about her.
Cornett, 19, received multiple threats over posts falsely claiming she had a sexual relationship with the father of her University of Mississippi boyfriend, Evan Solis, also 19.
The vicious rumors have since sparked a FBI investigation and the Cornett family are considering legal action against anyone who initially shared it online.
The vile claims have never been proven and all parties involved have denied the allegations.
Dave Portnoy, Clancy’s boss, expressed regret that his media empire played a part, telling the Daily Mail on Wednesday he would be ‘p***ed’ if he was Cornett’s family.
Pat McAfee has also spoken out on the situation after discussing the rumors on his ESPN show, telling the crowd at his ‘Big Night Aht’ event this week he ‘never wants to be a part of anything negative in anybody’s life’.
Barstool Sports personality Kevin Clancy has issued a groveling apology to Mary Kate Cornett
Two days after Portnoy’s statement, Clancy issued a lengthy apology to Cornett, her boyfriend and her family for his ‘bonehead decision’ to release a ‘really bad piece of content’.
He said in a video posted on social media: ‘All right, I’ve got to make an apology video here. I want to extend my deepest and most sincere apologies.
‘I am genuinely 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 a really lame and really bad piece of content regarding some rumors that were being spread about her.
‘If you’re not familiar with the story, a few months ago this rumor started on social media, this salacious rumor about Mary Kate being involved in some sort of affair.
‘It went mega viral all over the internet and so as part of my “One Minute Band Series”, I made a video saying this rumor is being talked about by everyone on social media.
‘Now, learning that those rumors were not true and seeing how much pain, hurt and embarrassment it has caused her and her family, I want to genuinely apologize for being a part of that in any way, shape or form.
‘Professionally speaking, I am way smarter than that. I have been doing this for a very long time, and I know better to engage in gossip and salacious rumors, particularly about someone who’s not in the public eye, not in the industry, just a regular person who had a very nasty rumor made up about her.
‘Professionally speaking, I am much better than that but more importantly, personally, I just feel real bad. I am a father myself. I have a daughter, and should have taken time to stop and put myself in their shoes and think about the repercussions of talking about this rumor in any way, shape or form.
‘Personally, professionally and any which way, I am genuinely sorry. I would like to privately apologize if that is even possible around the table and if there’s anything I can do to help fix things or make this right I would love to do so.
‘So once again, I’m very sorry to Mary Kate, her boyfriend, her father and anyone else who was affected by just a really bad piece of content.’
Dave Portnoy told the Daily Mail on Wednesday he would be ‘p***ed’ if he was Cornett’s family
In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Cornett said the traumatizing rumor has ‘ruined’ her life
Portnoy told Daily Mail that Barstool Sports is ‘better than publishing fake rumors of people not in the public eye regardless of how viral the story was.’
In a statement, he said: ‘I wish we didn’t publish it even if it was only for 7 minutes.
‘I’d be p***ed if I was the family too. I’d like to think we’re better than publishing fake rumors of people not in the public eye regardless of how viral the story was.’
Other Barstool Sports personalities ‘Nicky Smokes’ and Jack ‘Jack Mac’ McGuire also amplified the claims via other outlets, Daily Mail revealed.
Smokes – real name Charles Nicholas Longley – uploaded commentary about the terrified student to an official Barstool Sports social media account.
The 25-year-old Florida native, who labeled Cornett ‘disgusting,’ is one of the rising stars of the hugely successful brand.
An attorney representing Cornett told Daily Mail the offensive post will be included as part of future legal action against Barstool Sports.
Portnoy had previously stated of the abusive cyber campaign against Cornett, now in hiding following a barrage of savage abuse, ‘we did not allow any of that on Barstool.’
And he had referred to the viral claims about Cornett, who was 18 at the time, as ‘a lie that is kinda ruining her life for no reason.’
Nicky Smokes – real name Charles Nicholas Longley – posing with Barstool Sports founder and CEO Dave Portnoy
‘Nicky Smokes’ also spread false claims about Ole Miss freshman Cornett on social media
Daily Mail also revealed that the allegations were posted to the official ‘Barstool U’ Instagram account by Longley, contributing to the viral firestorm which exploded in February.
In the since deleted clip, Longley repeats the false rumor that Cornett cheated on her boyfriend with his father while adding vulgar commentary, against images of the abused teen wearing a red dress and another of her in a bikini top and shorts next to Solis.
In a video posted on March 19 to an official Barstool Instagram account, Portnoy called Nicky Smokes ‘dumb.’ Portnoy also referred to his employees posting about the Cornett matter on their personal accounts.
‘Now, we can’t control what I believe Jack Mac and KFC did on their private [social media accounts]… like we didn’t know you’re gonna talk about it in private on like a TikTok or Kevin tweeted it,’ he said.
‘That’s being [treated] like it’s us. I guess we could punish someone for what you do on your private [accounts], I wouldn’t in this case. They both were like… they’re talking about the internet.
‘It’s a tough one… At what level do you have like, I don’t know if it’s moral or whatever, to a girl who’s just having a lie that is kinda ruining her life for no reason.
‘So if you’re McAfee, why even bring it [up]? Like we decided it’s not going on our channels. I would’ve told Kevin and Jack Mac don’t even talk about it at all if they asked me.’
Justin Cornett told Daily Mail exclusively: ‘It’s shocking that the official Barstool college account furthered this lie, despite Mr. Portnoy claiming otherwise’
On Wednesday, Pat McAfee finally addressed the criticism he’s faced for spreading the rumor
Telling the crowd at his ‘Big Night Aht’ event on Wednesday, McAfee insisted he ‘never wants to be a part of anything negative in anybody’s life’.
The former NFL punter said in Pittsburgh: ‘Just like the current situation that is happening, where I have a lot of people saying that I should be sued. 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. You f***ing know it that my lawyers are Pittsburgh lawyers and they’re in here tonight. I do believe that they have a suite here that I have certainly contributed to. They have the same mindset as me, empathy but understanding reality.
‘We will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation. You can have that promise from me.’
ESPN, which broadcasts McAfee’s show, has declined to comment. McAfee signed a five-year, $85million deal with ESPN in 2023.
