Mary Kate Cornett’s dad opens up on ‘pretty unfair’ viral rumors about Ole Miss student’s love life

A family attorney and the father of the Ole Miss student wrapped up in a bizarre and allegedly false rumor that spread like wildfire online detailed how Mary Kate Cornett’s life has been flipped upside down since the remorseless claim was posted.

Cornett is said to have received death threats and was doxxed after a rumor about her sleeping with her boyfriend’s father was posted on X and went viral, with the likes of sports media personalities from Barstool Sports and ESPN’s Pat McAfee discussing it on the air.

Cornett, 18, and her boyfriend, Evan Solis, 19, have both denied the allegations in posts on social media and Cornett’s father, Justin, said that both local and federal authorities were looking into what happened. 

Justin told the Daily Mail that law enforcement was “engaged in the process and are making progress” of tracking down who made the claims online. 

But the whole situation has taken its toll on the college student.

“She wasn’t looking for this attention and this is pretty unfair. It’s been very difficult for us to have any semblance of a normal life,” her father told the outlet. 

The family’s lawyer, Monica Uddin, labeled it a “strange consequence of technology today,” highlighting how prior to social media the rumor would have gotten around campus, but would have not impacted Cornett’s real life. 

“Nowadays it can trend on Twitter or TikTok or whatever,” Uddin said. “’But even beyond that, people can manufacture fake photographs and images and for the average person scrolling if they see something that looks like it’s corroboration nobody stops and asks any questions — they just believe it and they keep going. 

“Or worse, they don’t think about it all and they keep talking about it and that’s what some sports media figures have done.”

ESPN previously declined to comment to The Post and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy previously denied his company had talked about it on any of its platforms in a statement. 

Uddin explained that campus security had told Cornett that it was not safe for her to attend classes at the University of Mississippi and that she had received death threats and had her cell phone number and address posted online. 

“She’s gotten the most disgusting messages you can imagine,” the lawyer said. 

While the culprit or culprits behind the online slander, Uddin seemed to suggest it was only a matter of time before they’re discovered. 

“I think many of them are not as clever about disguising their identity as they think they are,” he said. 

In a statement on her Instagram account, Cornett shot down the rumor and slammed those who have spread it as “quite frankly, inexcusable that such disturbing accusations went viral.”