Manti Te’o Hoax: The Latest Developments
We’ve become Manti Te'o obsessed!
Since the scandal involving the 21-year-old Notre Dame football star broke earlier this week, everyone has been trying to figure out if the jock is the victim in the elaborate online hoax – or the one who orchestrated the whole scheme.
Here are the latest developments…
1. The “Catfish” Creators Speak Out: On Thursday night, the co-creators of the MTV docuseries “Catfish: The TV Show” appeared on “omg! Insider” to give their take on the story and discuss the surge in online dating deceptions. “I'd be really surprised if he cooked this whole thing up in an effort to win over the hearts of America and take home the Heisman trophy,” Nev Schulman said about Te'o. “That seems like a pretty far-fetched scheme to me.” Added Max Joseph: “He would have to be one hell of a performer, an actor, to pull that off the way he did.”
2. The Alleged Mastermind Behind the Hoax Auditioned for “The Voice”: It is being reported that Te'o’s “friend” Ronaiah Tuiasosopo created the fictional Lennay Kekua, who was the “woman” the football star thought he was dating who later “died” of leukemia. Well, it seems Tuiasosopo had star ambitions long before the hoax was revealed. According to Us Weekly, he is an aspiring singer who auditioned for “The Voice.” And when he met with producers, he had an “insane sob story” about a car crash he and his cousins were involved in, reportedly told in an attempt to land a spot on the show. In light of what people now know about the death hoax, "people now think the sob story is fake."
3. The Transcript of Te'o’s Interview With Sports Illustrated Hits the Web: The sports magazine conducted an in-depth interview with Te'o about Kekua’s death last fall – and, following the hoax drama, they have now posted the entire transcript is online. Read all about how Kekua was an English major and how her “main dream was to work with kids.” Te'o also talks about the ring he wore in remembrance of her.
4. Fake Te'o Dating Profiles Are Popping Up: If he wasn’t involved in the hoax, it’s likely Te'o has sworn off dating for a while. However, that hasn’t stopped some pranksters from creating fake online dating profiles for the football star. Our favorite is this one on OKCupid, discovered by Vanity Fair, in which the “sporty island boy” who notes that he’s “been hurt before, so it will take some time for you to earn my trust,” demands an “in-person polygraph” prior to going out with anyone. “Just seeing you is not enough,” it says.
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