Kim Mulkey, the head coach of the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team, tore into a “sleazy” Washington Post reporter Sunday night one day after threatening to sue the outlet over an allegedly impending “hit piece.”
The saga began Saturday when Mulkey blasted WaPo during a media session for the NCAA tournament.
“I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me,” Mulkey told reporters.
“Not many people are in a position to hold these journalists accountable,” she continued. “But I am, and I’ll do it.”
Mulkey claimed the unnamed reporter has been “working on a story about [her] for two years,” and referred to the story as a “hit piece” multiple times.
#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
She also lambasted the state of journalism as a whole in the scathing three and a half minute rant.
“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 kind of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of,” Mulkey said Saturday.
She then doubled down on those claims Sunday. Opening her press conference after her Lady Tigers‘ 83-56 win over Middle Tennessee State, she tore into the “sleazy” reporter.
“We’re not gonna let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do,” she said.
Kim Mulkey in the post-game presser said she isn’t going to let the drama surrounding the unreleased Washington Post article distract them.
“We’re not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do. Absolutely not.” pic.twitter.com/1BuMADFwUR
— E J 🏀 (@EJayArrow) March 24, 2024
Mulkey also alleged the reporter lied to two former college coaches of hers and misrepresented her participation in the story to try to get them to comment.
Though she didn’t mention the reporter by name, she did reveal her dissatisfaction with another “hit job” he wrote on LSU’s head football coach Brian Kelly. (RELATED: ‘F**k You’: College Basketball Star Appears To Tell Referee To Stick It Where The Sun Don’t Shine)
“I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t appreciate the hit job he wrote on Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him.”
WaPo’s Kent Babb, who wrote a story on Kelly in 2022, took to Twitter after Mulkey’s comments, tweeting out his article with the caption “hit piece?”
Hit piece? https://t.co/NvOQ1JMuXW
— Kent Babb (@kentbabb) March 23, 2024
Whatever you think of WaPo or the media at large, Mulkey’s decision to speak so forcefully before the article even drops all but ensures it will be required reading for sports fans everywhere. I can sympathize with her disdain for the corporate press, but I highly doubt her threats of legal action will actually strike fear in the heart of WaPo and their massive legal team.