LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey has reportedly threatened to sue the Washington Post. On Friday, Sports Illustrated college sports reporter Pat Forde posted on X that the Washington Post is working on a "big" story about Mulkey. A day later, Mulkey took a preemptive stance, strongly criticizing the potential story and the reporter behind it.
Mulkey then threatened to take legal action against the outlet if they published what she labeled a "hit piece." The 61-year-old addressed the rumors during her press conference on Saturday and condemned what she referred to as the "sleazy tactics" employed by the media. Mulkey has not named the reporter who wrote the story.
Mulkey Goes Furious
"When my former coaches spoke to him and found out that I wasn't talking with the reporter, they were just distraught and they felt completely misled," Mulkey said. "Former players have told me that the Washington Post has contacted them and offered them to be anonymous in a story if they'll say negative things about me. The Washington Post has called former disgruntled players to get negative quotes to include in their story.
"... But you see reporters who give a megaphone to a one-sided embellished version of things aren't trying to tell the truth. They're trying to sell newspapers and feed the click machine. This is exactly why people don't trust journalists and the media anymore. It's these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of.
"I'm fed up and I'm not gonna let the Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have, or me, without a fight."
"I've hired the best defamation law firm in the country & I'll sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me."
Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde was the first to report that a story on Mulkey was set to break.
"Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women's hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week,' Forde wrote on X on Friday evening. 'Wagons being circled, etc."
However, he didn't specify details, and at present, it remains unclear what the reported story is about, who is writing it, and when it could be published.
Out of Fear
Mulkey, who led the Tigers to the national title last year, alleged that a reporter had been working on a story for two years to "compile a hit piece."
She said that the reporter had contacted the school on Tuesday while LSU was preparing for its first-round March Madness game against Rice, presenting "a dozen questions" and demanding a response by Thursday 'before tipoff'.
"Are you kidding me? This was a ridiculous deadline that LSU and I couldn't possibly meet and the reporter knew it," Mulkey said in her address.
"It was just an attempt to prevent me from commenting and an attempt to distract us from this tournament. It ain't gonna work buddy."Top of Form
Mulkey claimed that the reporter had told her former coaches that she was working on the story, leading them to feel 'distraught' upon learning that this was allegedly not the case.
LSU faces Middle Tennessee on Sunday with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen on the line.
