LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has threatened a lawsuit against the Washington Post if the outlet publishes what she calls a “hit piece” that is rumored to be “in the works.”
On Friday, Sports Illustrated college sports reporter Pat Forde posted on X that the Washington Post had a “big” story about Mulkey that would soon be published.
Wasting no time, on Saturday, Mulkey threatened to sue the Post if the piece ever saw the light of day.
“I wouldn’t normally discuss media rumors about me, but I felt the need to publicly address what exactly this reporter for the Washington Post has been doing the past several years,” Mulkey said. “And the lengths he has gone to try and put a hit piece together. This reporter has been working on a story about me for two years. After two years of trying to get me to sit with him for an interview, he contacted LSU on Tuesday, as we were getting ready for the first-round game of this [NCAA] tournament, with more than a dozen questions, demanding a response by Thursday right before we’re scheduled to tip-off. Are you kidding me?
#LSU’s Kim Mulkey speaks on the rumored reports of an article being posted by the Washington Post. pic.twitter.com/bkEEMeWQrn
— Bryce Koon (@bryce_koon) March 23, 2024
“This was a ridiculous deadline that LSU and I could not possibly meet, and the reporter knew it. It’s just an attempt to prevent me from commenting and an attempt to distract us from this tournament. It ain’t gonna work, buddy. Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that goes back years. I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t appreciate the hit job he wrote on [LSU football coach] Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him. After that, the reporter called two former college coaches of mine and left multiple messages that he was with me in Baton Rouge to get them to call him back — trying to trick these coaches into believing that I was working with the Washington Post on a story.”
The reporter Mulkey referred to is believed to be Kent Babb. After Mulkey’s press conference, Babb took to X to protest her characterization of his article about Brian Kelly.
Hit piece? https://t.co/NvOQ1JMuXW
— Kent Babb (@kentbabb) March 23, 2024
Mulkey was critical of the Washington Post’s alleged efforts to demonize her, but she didn’t confine her critiques to Kent Babb or the Post. She also went on at length to take the entire journalism industry to task for fostering an atmosphere of mistrust.
Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Lady Tigers celebrates after defeating the Miami Hurricanes 54-42 in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 26, 2023 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
“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 explained. “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.”
When asked by the Associated Press, the Washington Post confirmed that Babb was working on a profile of Mulkey but declined further comment.
