LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey continues to fire warning shots at the Washington Post.
On Saturday, Mulkey, 61, threatened to sue The Washington Post for defamation over an apparent “hit movie” rumored to be in the works.
After LSU’s come-from-behind victory over No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee in Sunday’s March Madness round of 32, a USA Today reporter told Mulkey that “external” distractions in general were the reason for the team’s slow start. I asked if that was the case.
“No, listen, we’re not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do. Absolutely not,” Mulkey said.
“The kids didn’t even know I said that yesterday. That team had no part in this,” Mulkey continued.
“They saw all this on the internet and were shocked. I won’t bring that to my team.”
Middle Tennessee University led 41-32 early in the second half, but LSU barnstormed the rest of the game and won 83-56.
LSU’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against the Creighton-UCLA winner, with a possible rematch with Iowa from last year’s national championship game looming if both teams advance to the Elite Eight. .
The dust-up with the Washington Post began last week when veteran SI reporter Pat Ford wrote in X that a “big” story about Mulkey was “in the works.”
“I don’t normally talk about media rumors about me, but I feel it’s necessary to publicly address what exactly a Washington Post reporter has been up to in recent years,” Mulkey told reporters on Saturday. I felt it,” he said.
“And how hard he worked to put together a hit song. This reporter has been writing articles about me for two years. He’s been trying to get me to sit down with him for two years and get interviews. But he contacted LSU on Tuesday, right around the time we were preparing for this first-round game. [NCAA] The tournament includes more than a dozen questions that players must answer by the Thursday before tip-off is scheduled. are you kidding me “
The reporter added that he had previously done a “hit job” on LSU football coach Brian Kelly.
“This was a crazy deadline that LSU and I couldn’t meet, and the reporters knew that,” Mulkey continued.
“It’s just an attempt to block my comments and distract us from this tournament. That’s not going to work, buddy. Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that’s been going on for years. Two years ago, I told this reporter that I didn’t appreciate the hit piece he wrote about Brian Kelly, so I wasn’t going to interview him.The reporter then told me about my former college coach. I called them and left multiple messages saying they would be with me in Baton Rouge and had them call back. I tried to fool the coaches into thinking I was working with the Washington Post on a story. .”
Mr. Mulkey did not name the reporters, but longtime Washington Post reporter Kent Babb said: I tweeted a story I wrote in 2022.with the caption “A hit?”
During a media appearance on Saturday, Mulkey threatened to sue.
“I have hired the best defamation law firm in the country, so I will sue the Washington Post if they publish false stories about me,” she said. “Not many people are in a position to hold this kind of journalist accountable, but I am. And I’m going to do it.”
