The teenage Ole Miss student embroiled in a false internet rumor that she slept with her boyfriend’s father intends to launch legal action against Pat McAfee and ESPN for discussing the saga on live television.

Mary Kate Cornett, the 19-year-old college freshman in question, has broken her silence and revealed her life has been turned upside down by the viral rumors, which she says McAfee helped to spread by discussing on his show on February 26.

‘I would like people to be held accountable for what they’ve done,’ she said in an interview with The Athletic.

‘You’re ruining my life by talking about it on your show for nothing but attention, but here I am staying up until 5 in the morning, every night, throwing up, not eating because I’m so anxious about what’s going to happen for the rest of my life.

‘They don’t think it matters, because they don’t know who I am and they think that I deserve it, but I don’t.’ 

The report also references a Barstool Sports personality, Jack Mac, appearing to promote a memecoin with Cornett’s name on his Twitter account. That post on X is still there at the time of writing.

Cornett’s family say she is suffering ‘horribly’ because of the coordinated viral campaign and have now brought in an attorney

Ole Miss student Mary Kate Cornett’s nightmare began out of the blue when posts appeared online claiming she had a sexual relationship with the father of her boyfriend, Evan Solis, 19

Cornett’s attorney, Monica Uddin, says her team may look at action at those who profited from promoting a false rumor, saying to The Athletic: This is just a wild west version of a very familiar problem. 

‘It’s just that it’s even worse because it’s not a company. It’s an 18-year-old girl.

‘They elevated a lie from the worst corners of (X) to millions of general sports fans just to get a few more clicks and ultimately a few more dollars. While they don’t have to deal with it after it airs, the lie is chained to Mary Kate for the rest of her life.’

The report also reveals disturbing details of how the social media rumors have impacted Cornett’s family.

Her 89-year-old grandfather was apparently targeted with a phone call in the middle of the night about her. Her father says he has hired a private investigator as well as contacting police, Ole Miss campus security and the FBI.

Cornett herself, who turned 19 on March 20, says she is targeted on her school campus by students screaming ‘vulgar, disgusting things’ at her. 

She also says her phone number was shared online and as a result, was inundated with abusive and degrading phone calls.

ESPN, which broadcasts McAfee’s show, has declined to comment. McAfee signed a five-year, $85million deal with ESPN in 2023. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, meanwhile, has denied allegations of any wrongdoing from his organization, saying: ”Barstool Sports did not mention or spread this rumor on any of our Barstool owned channels as far as I know.

Cornett says she has struggled to eat and sleep in the weeks since the rumors emerged 

Pat McAfee discussed the rumors on his February 26 show, broadcast on ESPN

‘Our editors instinctively made the decision to avoid this story as it seemed there was a high likelihood it could have been fabricated. If I’m wrong about that I’m happy to see where it was posted and revisit.’

Speaking to DailyMail.Com earlier in March, Cornett’s father Justin said: ‘This has been a tough time for the family and we appreciate all the support.

‘The authorities, both local and federal, are fully engaged in the process and are making progress.

‘She wasn’t looking for this attention and this is pretty unfair. It’s been very difficult for us to have any semblance of a normal life.’