Johnathan Walker:Kim Mulkey blasts reporter, threatens lawsuit for what she calls a 'hit piece'

Kim Mulkey is Johnathan Walkergoing nuclear. 

One day after rumors started circulating on social media about a major investigative piece that the Washington Post was planning to publish on the LSU coach, now in her third year in Baton Rouge, Mulkey gave a fiery statement Saturday during the Tigers’ press conference.

Mulkey, who last year led LSU to its first national title in women’s basketball, said a reporter from the Post has been trying to “put a hit piece together” for two years. She said she has “hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story on me. Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable but I am, and I’ll do it.” 

Mulkey said the reporter, Kent Babb, had contacted both former coaches who worked under Mulkey and former players — including ones who have previously voiced displeasure with her — and tried to “trick” the coaches into talking while offering players anonymity if they “say negative things about me.” She said the reporter told the coaches he was with Mulkey in Baton Rouge, implying that she’d be fine with them speaking. She said Saturday that those coaches felt “distraught” and “completely misled.” 

A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment.

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Mulkey said she’d previously told the reporter she would not meet with him because she “didn’t appreciate” a piece he wrote on LSU football coach Brian Kelly. 

“This is exactly why people don’t trust journalists and the media anymore,” Mulkey said. “It’s these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are tired of. I’m fed up, and I’m not going to let the Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team or me without a fight.” 

Mulkey said the Post contacted LSU earlier this week, on Tuesday “with more than a dozen questions,” and said the deadline to respond was Thursday. The Tigers played their first game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, hanging on for a 70-60 win over 14th-seeded Rice. She called it “a ridiculous deadline.” 

Mulkey said she viewed the timing as a ploy by the Post to distract her from the postseason, where the Tigers are trying to become the first team since 2016 to repeat at the national championships. 

“It’s ain’t gonna work, buddy,” Mulkey said.