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Pat McAfee has revealed he recently apologized to Mary Kate Cornett and her family in person after spreading a fake sex claim about the Ole Miss student earlier this year.
Cornett, 19, was the subject of a vile internet rumor back in February which alleged that she was in a sexual relationship with the father of her University of Mississippi boyfriend, Evan Solis, also 19.
The unproven accusation, which was even investigated by the FBI, left Mary Kate's family furious as they threatened legal action against anyone who shared it online.
One of those people was McAfee, who discussed the false rumor live on his ESPN sports talk show on two separate occasions.
Cornett ripped into the former NFL punter for doing so at the time, while claiming that he had never contacted her to find out if there was any truth to the story. McAfee then broke his silence a week later by insisting he 'never wants to be a part of anything negative in anybody's life'.
Now, five months on from the start of the rumor, he has finally apologized to both Cornett and her family for spreading it.
Pat McAfee has revealed he recently apologized to Mary Kate Cornett and her family in person
Cornett (right), 19, was the subject of a vile internet rumor back in February which alleged that she was in a sexual relationship with the father of her boyfriend, Evan Solis (left), also 19
'As a lot of you know, on February 26 of this year, we were down at the Combine on this particular program. We discussed a very viral internet story about an Ole Miss college student. We weren’t clear at that time where the story originated from. It was all over the internet,' McAfee said on Wednesday's edition of his show.
'Yet by the time we talked about it, the story was everywhere. I have since learned that the story was not true, and that my show played a role in the anguish caused to a great family and especially to a young woman, Mary Kate Cornett.
'I think you all know from tuning into this program that I never want to be a source of negativity or contribute to another human’s suffering. And I can now happily share with you that I recently got to meet Mary Kate and her family. And I got a chance to sincerely apologize to them and acknowledge that what I said about Mary Kate was based solely on what others were saying on the internet, or what had previously been reported by others, and that we had no personal knowledge about Mary Kate or her personal life.'
McAfee then added: 'As a girl dad, I also was very thankful for the opportunity to let Mr. Cornett know that I was wildly regretful for the part that our show, our program, played in his daughter, Mary Kate’s, pain.
'I know many of you are wondering why I, or we, haven’t addressed this topic until now. It’s a fair question. But as you might imagine, there was a lot going on behind the scenes since this all happened.
'The most important element on the timing is that I, personally, it was a decision I made, wanted to talk to the family first before addressing it publicly. And I can now say that I had the opportunity to meet them, chat with them, and they’re wonderful people. And I’m very thankful that they gave me the opportunity to tell them how sorry I was that this all happened, and that our program was a part of this.
The Ole Miss student hit out at McAfee for spreading the false accusation on his ESPN show
The sports host and former NFL punter says he recently met up with the family to apologize
McAfee revealed he also personally issued an apology to Cornett's father, Justin (right)
'I deeply regret all the pain that this caused. I hated watching what our show as a part of, in her interviews and reading about it. And my hope is that this can be something that we all learn from going forward. I know we certainly have.
'Our goal at this show is to make the world a happier place, a better place. To celebrate life and sports and unify folks. I, and we, don’t always get it right. But we’ll never stop trying.'
McAfee was not the only high-profile figure to admit regret over spreading the false accusation about Cornett, with Barstool Sports boss Dave Portnoy also owning up to his mistake.
Portnoy expressed regret that his media empire played a part, telling telling the Daily Mail back in April that he would be 'p***ed' if he was Cornett's family.
In a statement, he said: 'I wish we didn’t publish it even if it was only for 7 minutes.
'I’d be p***ed if I was the family too. I’d like to think we’re better than publishing fake rumors of people not in the public eye regardless of how viral the story was.'
