LSU’s Kim Mulkey threatens lawsuit over rumoured Washington Post ‘hit job’
Kim Mulkey has threatened to sue the Washington Post after rumors spread on social media that the newspaper plans to publish an article about the LSU women’s basketball coach.
Mulkey led LSU to the NCAA title last year and is one of the most high-profile coaches in college basketball. But on Saturday she used a press conference to attack the Washington Post and journalists as a whole.
“Reporters who give a megaphone to a one-sided embellished version of things are not trying to tell the truth,” she said. “They’re trying to sell newspapers and feed the click machine. This is exactly why people no longer trust journalists and the media. It’s these kinds of dirty tactics and hatchet jobs that people are simply fed up with. I am fed up and I will not let the Washington Post attack this university, this amazing team of young women that I have, or me, without a fight.”
Mulkey did not name the journalist in question, but said she “felt the need to publicly address what exactly this Washington Post reporter has been doing over the past few years. And the effort he put into trying to put a hit together… I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t like the hit he wrote about (LSU football coach) Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him.”
Post reporter Kent Babb wrote a profile of Kelly in 2022. After Mulkey’s press conference on Saturday, Babb wrote “Hit piece?” in a message on X, and linked to his profile of Kelly.
Mulkey added that she had hired “the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me.” There aren’t many people who can hold these types of journalists accountable, but I can, and I will.”
She said the Post had “called former disgruntled players to get negative quotes to include in their stories,” and “misled” other coaches to discredit her.
LSU will play Middle Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. They opened their campaign with a 70-60 victory over Rice on Friday.
The 60-year-old Mulkey was a star player in college and won a national title with Louisiana Tech before helping Team USA win gold at the 1984 Olympics. She won three national titles as Baylor’s coach before moving to LSU and last year claimed the championship. Mulkey is credited with helping players with personal problems, but has also courted controversy, especially in her relationship with Brittney Griner, whom she coached at Baylor. Although Griner said she appreciated Mulkey defending her from hostile fans, she also said the coach told her to cover her tattoos and not to talk publicly about her sexuality.