Mary Kate Cornett still has no idea how she got thrown into ‘insane’ viral affair scandal

University of Mississippi student Mary Kate Cornett said she has “no idea” how a false internet rumor alleging she slept with her boyfriend’s father that went viral in February originated.

During a sitdown with NBC News that aired on Wednesday, Cornett recalled hearing from friends that a rumor had spread on YikYak, an anonymous messaging-based app, about a college student at Ole Miss and in her Kappa Delta sorority, who was sleeping with her boyfriend’s father.  

Cornett’s name and photo were then attached to the rumor, and it became a topic of conversation on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Feb. 26. She was 18 at the time.

“No clue. No clue. I had zero, zero, zero knowledge of this,” Cornett, now 19, said when asked if she knew how the rumor started. “Within two-and-a-half hours [it became a top trending topic on X.]

“Later that night, around 7 p.m., I was No. 1 trending in the United States. I just felt so helpless and so alone because so many people were hating on me for something that I had no idea anything about.”

Cornett, whose phone number was shared online due to the rumor, said she received thousands of calls, texts and voicemails — some containing harassing messaging and death threats.

“Calling me a whore, calling me a slut, telling me I deserve to die,” she recalled. “… All because of an internet rumor that has zero truth to it. Zero.”

Cornett added that she was getting looks on campus, could barely leave her dorm room and had to switch to online classes.

“It was so insane. It all happened so fast,” she continued. “I was just in shambles. I just felt so helpless and so alone because so many people were hating on me for something that I had no idea anything about.”

Cornett explained that she’s worried her life is “ruined” because her name will be attached to the situation forever, and she wants justice.

“I want these famous people to know that I was not famous before this,” she said. “I am not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views, I’m not, sorry.”

Cornett said she intends to take legal action against McAfee and ESPN, and potentially others who, she said, helped spread the rumor.

ESPN and McAfee declined to comment to NBC. 

McAfee posted a video of the conversation on his Feb. 26 show, which showed him and his male contributors discussing a “ménage à trois” at Ole Miss that took the internet by storm.

McAfee, who said an “Ole Miss frat bro” allegedly “had a KD (Kappa Delta) girlfriend,” did not mention Cornett and her boyfriend’s names in the clip, which is still posted as of Thursday.

Shortly after, Cornett and her boyfriend, Evan Solis, both denied the rumor in separate statements on their Instagram pages.

Monica Uddin, Cornett’s attorney, said her client has been defamed and his the victim of cyberbullying.

“Not using her name is not a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, saying ‘allegedly’ is not a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card,” Uddin told NBC News. “These people are responsible for what they have done to her.” 

Uddin said Cornett is prepared to be deposed in her case.