Despite national attention, Pat McAfee has largely refrained from publicly discussing the situation involving 19-year-old Ole Miss freshman Mary Kate Cornett, who has threatened to sue him for promoting a baseless rumor regarding her personal life. However, on Wednesday, McAfee addressed the matter during his Big Night AHT live show in Pittsburgh. While he did not name Cornett directly, his remarks were clearly allusive. After mentioning Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against him, McAfee seemed to refer to the Cornett controversy, promising to make amends.
“I’m cool with Brett. Just like the current situation where I have a lot of people saying I should be sued,” McAfee said, seemingly referencing Cornett. “I never, ever want to be a part of anything negative in anybody’s life, ever. That’s not what I want to do… my lawyers are Pittsburgh lawyers and they’re in here tonight… they have the same mindset as me: empathy but understanding reality. For that whole thing happening, I didn’t want to add any negativity as it was taking place. We will try to figure that out and make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation. You have my promise; it won’t be as impossible to be a fan of mine going forward.”
I’ll never forget my first lawsuit 😂😂
We’re good, Brett Favre
I never wanna add negativity to a situation #BigNightAHT pic.twitter.com/nQFtoQSefL
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 10, 2025
For those unfamiliar, the situation began in February when a baseless rumor spread that Cornett had an affair with her boyfriend’s father. Although McAfee never mentioned Cornett by name, he did reference the rumor on his show during a segment with ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the NFL Draft Scouting Combine.
What’s going on at Ole Miss 😂😂 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/48ed4tI3ey
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 26, 2025
Since then, Cornett has spoken out about her ordeal, describing the overwhelming harassment she faced, which led her to move into emergency housing and switch to online courses. She has repeatedly emphasized McAfee’s role in spreading the rumor while threatening possible legal action against him. “I’m not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views,” she told NBC Nightly News, adding, “I don’t think these boys know what they’re doing to people.”
Although McAfee had remained silent until Wednesday’s show, his comments suggest a desire to resolve the issue amicably, likely hoping to avoid legal conflict. It will be interesting to see how the former punter approaches this situation and whether Cornett is open to the gesture of reconciliation he seems to extend.
