BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU coach Kim Mulkey on Saturday slammed the Washington Post and threatened legal action after the paper spent two years pursuing a “hit story” about her. , said he gave her a deadline to answer the questions. Last week, the defending national champion Tigers were preparing for the women's NCAA Tournament.
Without mentioning him by name, Mulkey said of award-winning Post reporter Kent Babb, “It's amazing how hard he worked to put together a hit piece.” “For two years he's been trying to get me to sit down and interview him, but on Tuesday, as we were preparing for the first round of this tournament, he asked LSU about a dozen questions and asked me to respond by Thursday. Before tip-off was scheduled. Are you kidding me?”
“This was a crazy deadline that LSU and I couldn't meet, and the reporters knew that,” Mulkey continued. “That was just an attempt to block my comments and distract us from this tournament. That's not going to work, buddy.”
Babb confirmed to The Associated Press that he was reviewing Mulkey's profile, but declined to comment further. The paper also declined to comment.
Babb has worked at the Washington Post for 14 years. His traits have been named the best in the nation three times by the Associated Press sports editors. Babb has also written two of his books: Across the River: Life, Death, and Football in an American City and Not A Game: The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson.
Mulkey is in his third season at LSU on a 10-year, $36 million extension after winning his fourth national title as coach last season. She also won her three medals at Baylor University, and as an athlete at Louisiana Tech University she won two, and at the 1984 Olympics she won a gold medal as an athlete on the USA team. Obtained.
Mulkey said he told Babb two years ago that he wouldn't do an interview with Babb because he “didn't like” the hit piece he wrote about current LSU and former Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly. .
“I'm tired of it. I'm not going to let the Washington Post attack this university, our great team of young women, and me without a fight,” Mulkey added. “I have hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me.
“Not many people are in a position to hold these types of journalists accountable, but I do and I will hold them accountable,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey accused Babb of trying to trick former assistant coaches into talking to him by giving the false impression that Mulkey had agreed to an interview.
“When my former coaches talked to him and found out I wasn't talking to reporters, they were just distraught and felt completely misunderstood,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey added that former players have told her that the Post “contacted them that if they were going to say anything negative about me, they would do so anonymously and in the article.”
“The Washington Post called on disgruntled former players to hear their negative words for inclusion in their story. They are ignoring over 40 years of positive reporting,” Mulkey said. said.
“But the reporters who feed one-sided, exaggerated stories aren't trying to tell the truth. They're trying to sell newspapers and feed the click machine,” Muechly said. continued. “This is exactly why people no longer trust journalists and the media. It's this kind of dirty tactics and hatchet work that people are tired of.”
