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A Mississippi college student is planning to take legal action against ESPN after the sports channel amplified viral misinformation that she had slept with her boyfriend’s father.
In February, Mary Kate Cornett became the subject of Internet rumour after an anonymous X user called @Magageddon shared an unverified image of an apparent Snapchat conversation detailing the affair.
What followed were thousands of posts, voicemails and texts harassing Cornett and telling her to kill herself; the swatting of her mother’s house; the creation of a memecoin under her name; and the on-air discussion of the story by ESPN analyst Pat McAfee.
A local station also shared a dramatic reading of the Snapchat conversation on its social media as part of a segment called “Infidelity Alley”.
Cornett removed her name from her college dorm room, but was moved into emergency housing after she was deemed to be under threat.
Last week she told NBC the misinformation had ruined her life. It may never be clear who started it.
