Interview: Manti Te’o explains how he was duped
In the interview, Te’o also said:
• He lied to his father about having met Kekua, prompting his father to tell reporters that Te’o and Kekua had met. Several media stories indicated that Te’o and Kekua had met. Te’o insisted they never did.
• He tried to speak with Kekua via Skype and FaceTime on several occasions, but the person at the other end of the line was in what he called a “black box” and wasn’t seen.
• He planned to meet Kekua in person several times, including in Los Angeles and Hawaii, but on each occasion she called off the meeting or sent others in her place.
• The first time he met Tuiasosopo was in Los Angeles. Notre Dame beat USC there on Nov. 24.
• A group of people connected to Tuiasosopo showed up at the team hotel, after curfew, for the Discover BCS National Championship Game in Miami. Te’o said he knew they were at the hotel because the group took photos in the hotel lobby. Someone in the group called Te’o, saying they were waiting for Kekua to join them in the lobby and asking if she was with him. Te’o then hung up. Te’o said it affected his play in the game, where Notre Dame lost to Alabama 42-14.
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you gonna believe your lyin’ eyes, or me.
renalin on January 19, 2013 at 9:43 AM
renalin on January 19, 2013 at 9:43 AM
You didn’t even watch the video at the link.
CW on January 19, 2013 at 9:48 AM
What a strange story.
mjk on January 19, 2013 at 9:58 AM
If it’s not on Oprah . . .
IOW, why is this so important?
davidk on January 19, 2013 at 10:04 AM
There are so many people who need to be taken to task for this story.
1. Notre Dame trying to use Manti as a human interest story around the national championship game to deflect attention to the numerous accusations of Football players raping Notre Dame female students and the Administration ignoring and/or covering it up.
2. The media for circling like buzzards around what they thought was a “tragic” story of love lose to untimely death.
3. Whatever super weird upbringing Manti had that made him absolutely desperate to be able to say he had a girlfriend without ever having to meet her. The man is a football player at Notre Dame, why would he put up with all the weirdness from an internet girlfriend if he actually wanted to sleep with women. Being closeted makes you into a liar, as we see from this story.
libfreeordie on January 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM
“It affected his play”. There we go. That’s the overreach on the explanation. Looking for pity for his own poor performance.
Whatever happened, he didn’t have the relationship with the girl that he portrayed to the press. He never saw her, they never met, she evaded him, he didn’t visit. He created a more sympathetic story for the press
And the press reported it, without so much as googling her name.
MayBee on January 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM
This is a story of psychological manipulation. This young man will suffer. I know someone who experienced something very similar. When the truth came out, she experienced PTSD and required months of therapy to restore her self esteem. It turns out that the perp in her case had a history of this kind of behavior. These people are able to identify someone who is vulnerable, and they proceed to rope them in with a sob story. Then their “fun” begins.
southworth on January 19, 2013 at 10:15 AM
Meanwhile, in real news: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/18/aclu-kansas-abortion-law/1846835/
davidk on January 19, 2013 at 10:16 AM
You’re a joke coming out with totally unfounded garbage like that.
Teo is guilty of being too gullible and of caring for someone he thought was a suffering girl. You are the anonymous freak on a news blog trying to spread idiotic stories about him. What kind of pathetic upbringing did YOU have. Teo seems like a good guy who will make a very good husband someday. You’re just an Internet hater.
bluegill on January 19, 2013 at 10:20 AM
What’s his IQ? Slow people are sometimes very trusting and easily manipulated.
Ted Torgerson on January 19, 2013 at 10:20 AM
Libfreeordie- he was known to have dated other women, so I don’t think you are on the right track.
MayBee on January 19, 2013 at 10:33 AM
.
It’s only importance is to use as deflection from other important stuff and to prove that ND never deserved number one… or number 15, for that matter.
ExpressoBold on January 19, 2013 at 10:41 AM
.
Hate to say it but Libbie could be right, especially if Te’o has designs on a pro football career (no, not soccer, football). Being gay and out in the NFL is verboten.
ExpressoBold on January 19, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Seems like a lot of Notre Dame fans on these Hot Air boards relating to this situation.
This is just such a wild story that I’m not sure what to think. But at this point, I still think Te’o was involved in this hoax.
And your point? I know gay men who were married and fathered children. “Dating” other women demonstrates nothing. And after the press was positive he had a relationship with a fake girlfriend, I’m not sure he actually dated other women. The “closeted” theory answers lots of questions in this story.
asc85 on January 19, 2013 at 10:52 AM
To quote Whitney Houston, may she rest in piece, “show me the receipts DIane!!” Unless one of these mystery women appear and say “I have dated Manti” I’m not buying it. Is there a single woman, outside of the three he has married, who has ever come forward as having dated Tom Cruise? Exactly. Manti is family baby.
libfreeordie on January 19, 2013 at 11:05 AM
Whoa. I just can’t tell if this is parody, Bishing or just plain stange to watch people become so invested in someone they don’t know and haven’t met…?
Fallon on January 19, 2013 at 11:08 AM
You’re reading too much into it.
njrob on January 19, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Well one thing for sure. The media has invested more time and resources on this story than they have trying to determine what really happened in Benghazi.
Pathetic.
HumpBot Salvation on January 20, 2013 at 8:40 AM