What You Don’t Know About The Manti Te’o Fake Girlfriend Hoax

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to the news, Manti Te’o, a Notre Dame football star, says he was the victim of a cruel hoax, an elaborate scheme in which he fell for an imaginary girlfriend named Lennay Kekua , whom he said he mourned for after hearing of hear death. Problem is, there are several aspects of Manti’s story which don’t make much sense.

Buzzfeed recently revealed that Te’o was still gushing over his girlfriend even after he was told that he’d been tricked:

Te’o was speaking to a reporter before the Heisman trophy ceremony in New York City. The video, which comes via South Bend’s local CBS affiliate WSBT, was recorded on Dec. 8, two days after the Notre Dame athletic department said Te’o learned of the supposed hoax. Update. He also mentioned her Sunday December 9th.

The man who many people believe was behind the hoax, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a friend of Manti’s, also auditioned for NBC’s The Voice:

A source tells Us Weekly that the aspiring singer spun quite a tale for the producers of NBC’s The Voice, too — when he auditioned to be a contestant on the upcoming season.

“He had this insane sob story before [he sang],” an insider reveals to Us. “It would make for great TV.”

According to the source, Tuiasosopo told producers he and his cousins started a Christian band together and were on their way to perform at a youth conference in Nevada when they got into a “massive” car accident. He claimed a truck crashed into their vehicle, sending them flip-flopping all over the freeway.

And this from NBC:

Hours after Deadspin’s bombshell report and Notre Dame’s press conference, when it seemed that everyone could agree on one thing — there is no Lennay Kekua — an NFL player claimed to have actually seen her in the flesh. Arizona Cardinals fullback Regan Mauia said he met her in American Samoa in 2011, before she started romancing Te’o, and is “close” to her family.

Long story short: There are more questions here than answers. There’s no way to tell whether Te’o was in on the hoax, but he certainly has a lot more explaining to do.

 

 

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