“I’m sad and I wish we didn’t play any part in it,” said Portnoy, adding he understands “why the family’s pissed.”
Dave Portnoy has formally apologized after those associated with his website, Barstool Sports, allegedly played a role in amplifying a rumor about 19-year-old University of Mississippi student Mary Kate Cornett.
“I would apologize, I get why the family’s pissed,” Portnoy said in an interview with NBC, when asked if he had a message to Cornett. “I’m sad and I wish we didn’t play any part in it and I’d apologize and say I wish we didn’t.”
“I thought they were really stupid,” he said of Barstool personalities who allegedly discussed claims the teen was sleeping with her boyfriend’s father — claims Cornett has since called “100% completely false,” and “disturbing.”
“For me, I’ve been doing this a long time, I thought it was clearly a fake story. I thought we were better than that,” he said, adding that he wanted to “throw up” when he discovered the comments.
In a previous statement to Rolling Stone, Portnoy initially denied the involvement in the rumor.
“Barstool Sports did not mention or spread this rumor on any of our Barstool owned channels,” he said at the time. “Our editors instinctively made the decision to avoid this story as it seemed there was a high likelihood it could have been fabricated. I do know one of our employees posted something on their personal socials but we don’t control those.”
Portnoy told NBC his and Cornett’s lawyers have been talking about how to move forward.
“I think we’re going to try to mediate. I don’t know what we did legally wrong. It’s a little different issue, but morally, we were wrong,” Portnoy said. “I was bragging that morally I thought we were right.”
In February, Pat McAfee and Antonio Brown discussed the rumors about Cornett on his The Pat McAfee Show. Although McAfee didn’t say her name outright, he mentioned the situation stating, “Some Ole Miss frat bro, k? Had a K-D (Kappa Delta) girlfriend.”
“At this exact moment, this is what is being reported by … everybody on the internet: Dad had sex with son’s girlfriend. And then it was made public … that’s the absolute worst-case situation,” he added.
Video of that moment was shared to X, before two people associated with Barstool Sports allegedly shared their commentary on the situation to the social media.
In her own interview with NBC, Cornett shared her frustrations with the host’s comments — saying, “I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl’s ‘sex scandal’ that was completely false.”
Her father later posted on Facebook to address the situation, while also sharing a statement from his daughter.
“By now, some of you know my daughter, Mary Kate Cornett, has been the subject of a totally and categorically false, malicious, organized and defamatory cyber attack,” he wrote. “She has been publicly doxed and our family has been forced to take protective measures to ensure her safety.”
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In the same post, Mary Kate herself addressed the commentary, saying, “Not to be outdone by the Bots, Irresponsible independent social media influencers with apparent ties to Barstool Sports and even major public figures like Antonio Brown and Pat McAfee who hosts ESPN’s College Game Day have shared these utter and complete lies with zero interest in the truth, but instead spreading outlandish conjecture.”
“No one affiliated with these organizations ever reached out to us for comment,” she claimed.
Cornett’s lawyers now believe “she was the victim of cyberbullying and has grounds for a defamation suit.”
