Dave Portnoy Apologizes for Role in “Vicious Rumor” That “Ruined” College Student’s Life

Dave Portnoy is owning up to a mistake. 

After University of Mississippi student Mary Kate Cornett expressed her disappointment in celebrity personalities like podcasters at Portnoy’s Barstool Sports and ESPN’s Pat McAfee amplifying a false story about her having sex with her boyfriend’s father, Portnoy said he understood why she was “pissed.”

“It’s a vicious rumor,” Portnoy told NBC News’ Tom Llamas on NBC Nightly News April 10. “I’m sad, and I wish we didn’t play any part in it.” 

In February, his employees Kevin Clancy and Jack McGuire, each weighed in on the rumor online in now-deleted posts on X. And while he previously denied his company’s involvement in a statement to Rolling Stone, Portnoy now says that amplifying the story on Barstool’s platform  “practically ruined” the 19-year-old’s life. 

Meanwhile, McAfee recently alluded to his own wrongdoing in the viral onslaught against Cornett. Although he did not mention the student by name, he said during a live event for his show April 9 that he “didn’t want to add more negativity as it was taking place,” per The Athletic, and “will try to make some sort of silver lining in a very terrible situation.”