Tony Kornheiser supports Washington Post after Kim Mulkey rails against unpublished story

“Pardon the Interruption” co-host and former Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser defended his former employer after LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey threatened legal action against the paper over what she described as an alleged hit piece being written about her.

Kornheiser called Mulkey a “great” and “terrific coach” before jumping to the defense of the outlet during a PTI segment Monday.  

“And she sees the press as an enemy, which happens a lot in America these days,” he started off saying. “She is publicly defiant, she is somewhat over-controlling, she does not want to be covered in the way that champions are covered, which is in-depth.

“Kent Babb has a story in the Washington Post, he’s a terrific writer and reporter. I know that you join me in thinking it will be 100 percent accurate and it will not be defamatory.” 

Mulkey brought attention to the upcoming story during a press conference on Saturday when she preemptively addressed a rumored story that was in the works by the Washington Post.

She said she would “sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me.” 

“This reporter has been working on a story about me for two years,” she said over the weekend. “After two years of trying to get me to sit with him for an interview, he contacts 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?

 “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.”

While Kornheiser was quick to take a side in the drama, fellow co-host Michael Wilbon had a more measured response, wanting to wait for all of the information to come to light before commenting. 

“I’m so fortunate to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Kim Mulkey and I are in the same class,” Wilbon said. “And I don’t know what to make of Kim Mulkey, and I just decided I’m not going to decide everything or speculate on everything … some things, I’m just going to let unfold.”