University student shares how rumour that she ‘slept with boyfriend’s dad’ has ‘ruined her life’

A university student in the US has shared how her 'life was ruined' after a rumour about an alleged affair with her boyfriend's dad went viral.

Mary Kate Cornett, 19, explained how she became the target of online trolls after she was wrongly accused of sleeping with her father-in-law.

To make matters even worse, the speculation about her supposed fling with one of her partner's parents then ended up being discussed on The Pat McAfee Show.

Cornett said she still has 'no idea' how the rumours about her alleged philandering even started back in February this year, explaining she first found out from her friends.

She recalled how her pals had informed her that there was gossip going around about a girl from her sorority who was said to be having sex with her boyfriend's father.

These rumours were initially being pedalled on the anonymous messaging app YikYak, which allows incognito users to share posts in certain geographical areas, such as a university campus.

But until this point, Cornett's name hadn't been mentioned. However, the University of Mississippi student's image was then shared online, leading people to believe she was the 'cheat' that social media users were discussing.

Cornett claims her moniker became a top trending topic in the US on social media platform X 'within two and a half hours' of her photo and personal details being posted.

She said that 'hundreds and hundreds' of posts incorrectly identified her as the young woman in question - leaving her, her boyfriend, and his father reeling.

"It was so insane. It all happened so fast," Cornett told NBC News. "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."

As the uni student mentioned, loads of people were talking about the situation online, and the subject was later referenced on air by US sports commentator Pat McAfee.

During an episode of The Pat McAfee Show on 26 February, the pundit prompted a discussion about the alleged love triangle 'at Ole Miss', which is a nickname for the University of Mississippi.

She was accused of having an affair with her boyfriend's father by trolls (Instagram/@marykate.cornett)

In the clip, which McAfee shared to his X account, he said: "Some Ole Miss frat bro had a KD (Kappa Delta) girlfriend - allegedly, this is what's being reported by everyone on the internet - that had sex with son's girlfriend.

"Then it was made public. That's the absolute worse case in this situation."

McAfee did not refer to Cornett directly in the clip or explicitly identify any persons who were supposedly involved in the scandal - but the student said she now intends to take legal action against him and ESPN.

"I want these famous people to know that I was not famous before this," she said. "I am a normal 19-year-old college freshman. That’s it. I was happy. I had a great friend group.

“I’m not a public figure that you can go talk about on your show to get more views," Cornett added, while going on to explain how the unwanted viral fame has impacted her mental health.

"This has affected me in such an awful way and has practically ruined my life," she continued, saying that McAfee 'never once reached out to ask her if this was true or for her to give any sort of statement to him'.

"I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that an ESPN sports broadcaster would be talking about a 19-year-old girl’s ‘sex scandal’ that was completely false," Cornett said.

She claims that her phone number was also shared online, resulting in her being bombarded with 'thousands' of texts and calls from trolls.

The day after she became a segment on The Pat McAfee Show, Cornett shared an Instagram post stating that she had been the victim of a 'cyber attack', while her boyfriend also did the same.

(NBC)

She wrote: "First of all, this rumor is 100% completely false and it is quite frankly, inexcusable that such disturbing accusations went viral.

"Cyber attacks based on nothing but lies and misinformation happen all too often. This experience has awakened me to the dangers of how we all can be manipulated to believe things we read on social media that are not true.

"My hope is that I am able to use the heartbreak and pain I have felt to help others that go through things like this in the future."

Cornett told NBC it could 'happen to anyone' adding: "And there’s nothing I could have done to prevent what happened to me."

Her father, Justin Cornett, said he 'wants justice' and has hired a private investigator to look into the matter, explaining that he has also contacted the FBI and local police to probe the incident.

LADbible have contacted ESPN and representatives for McAfee for comment.