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Report: Tragic Story of Notre Dame Football Star’s Dead Girlfriend Was a Hoax

Jan. 16, 2013 6:25pm
Tragic Story of Notre Dame Football Star Manti Teos Dead Girlfriend Was a Hoax

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o poses with the Bronko Nagurski Trophy during a news conference in Charlotte, N.C. , Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. The award is given annually to the national top collegiate defensive player of the year. (AP)

Sports website Deadspin on Wednesday published a massive expose reporting that the tragic, inspirational story of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o's dead girlfriend was actually an elaborate hoax.

Not only did Te’o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, not die — according to Deadspin, she didn’t exist at all.

Described as one of the “defining story lines” of the 2012 college football season, Sports Illustrated and other outlets reported that the Heisman Trophy finalist learned of his grandmother’s death, and then the death of his girlfriend following her battle with leukemia, within a 24-hour span in September. Notre Dame went on to beat Michigan State 20-3 just days later, with Te’o saying Kekua’s death had inspired him to play better.

“That feeling of loss,” Te’o told CBS News in an interview aired Jan. 7. “Every letter she said remember, be humble, be gracious and always remember that I love you.”

The CBS News report featured a photo purported to be Kekua, and featured a direct quote attributed to her: “Babe, if anything happens to me, you promise that you’ll stay there and you’ll play and you’ll honor me through the way you play.”

But Deadspin reported it could find no record of Kekua whatsoever, and that her online persona was apparently created by 22-year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, active in his father’s church in California, and an apparent acquaintance of Te’o's:

We spoke with friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who asserted that Ronaiah was the man behind Lennay. He created Lennay in 2008, one source said, and Te’o wasn’t the first person to have an online “relationship” with her. One mark—who had been “introduced” to Lennay by Tuiasosopo—lasted about a month before family members grew suspicious that Lennay could never be found on the telephone, and that wherever one expected Lennay to be, Ronaiah was there instead. Two sources discounted Ronaiah’s stunt as a prank that only metastasized because of Te’o's rise to national celebrity this past season.

Following publication of Deadspin’s story, Notre Dame released a statement saying Te’o had been the victim of the hoax.

“On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators,” the statement said.

At no point from Dec. 26 to the BCS National Championship between Notre Dame and Alabama on Jan. 7 did the university make public any reservations about Te’o's story, which was repeated in many media reports leading up to the game. Notre Dame’s statement following the Deadspin report Wednesday afternoon is the first acknowledgement from the university in regards to controversy surrounding Te’o's girlfriend.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Te’o said it was “incredibly embarrassing” and “painful and humiliating” to be the victim of “someone’s sick joke”:

“This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother’s death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I’m looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft.”

But Deadspin’s report suggests Te’o was hardly a victim, and spoke to sources attesting to Te’o and Tuiasosopo’s closeness. One even said they were “80 percent sure” Te’o was “in on it”:

Te’o and Tuiasosopo definitely know each other. In May 2012, Te’o was retweeting Tuiasosopo, who had mentioned going to Hawaii. Wrote Te’o, “sole”—”bro,” in Samoan—”u gotta come down.” In June, Te’o wished Tuiasosopo a happy birthday. How they know each other isn’t clear. We spoke to a woman we’ll call Frieda, who had suggested on Twitter back in December that there was something fishy about Lennay Kekua. She was Facebook friends with Titus Tuiasosopo, so we asked her if she knew anything about Ronaiah.

“Manti and Ronaiah are family,” she said, “or at least family friends.” She told us that the Tuiasosopos had been on-field guests (of Te’o or someone else, she didn’t know) for the Nov. 24 Notre Dame-USC game in Los Angeles. USC was unable to confirm this, but a tweet from Tuiasosopo’s since-deleted account suggests he and Te’o did see each other on that West Coast trip. “Great night with my bro @MTeo_5! #Heisman #574L,” Ronaiah tweeted on Nov. 23, the night before the game.

[...]

A friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told us he was “80 percent sure” that Manti Te’o was “in on it,” and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua’s death with publicity in mind. According to the friend, there were numerous photos of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Te’o together on Tuiasosopo’s now-deleted Instagram account.

Te’o is a devout Mormon who has spoken openly about prayer and whose decision to attend the famously Catholic Notre Dame came as a surprise to many.

He recounted learning of Kekua’s death in an interview with ESPN.

“Her older brother called me and he was just crying and crying and crying,” Te’o said. “And that’s when — I kind of knew but I was still in denial, you know, I was like ‘don’t tell me you’re crying because it’s just — what I’m thinking. And that’s when he just said, she’s gone.”

​​This post has been updated.

TheBlaze’s Christopher Santarelli contributed to this report.

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Comments (37)

1 2
  • SPIN_MD
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 10:35am

    I’m thinking this is a virtual beard. A real girl would be a liability given the penchant for false celebrity in today’s society. They wrote “her” out of the story in a dramatic way to maximize any benefit. I predict a real “girlfriend” will soon surface, not because “they” want to but because “they” have to. It will be paid for by some alumni association through backdoor channels.

    Report this comment

    SPIN_MD  
  • BJWilkins
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 10:33am

    Get off the damn hoax story and take a good look at the real story. IT”S THE MEDIA , they are getting so use to being spoon fed what they report to us that they don’t know how to do proper investigative reporting anymore . Hold the MEDIA responsible for making this a nation hoax , they are the ones who spread the gossip to the world .

    Report this comment

    BJWilkins  
    • strewth_cobber
      Posted on January 18, 2013 at 2:56am

      I watched this story on “Good Morning America”, (which is shown on Australian – me live in Western Australia) free-to-air channels in early hours of morning before the various local channels morning ‘news’ shows which are all, of course, styled on the Today/GMA shows etc. GMA had a lengthy discussion/interview with the Deadspin reporter [forgotten his name] whom gave account of carrying out a thorough investigation into this Manti Te’o’s dead girlfriend (story). At the end of this GMA interview, presenter George Stephanopopopolous exclaims, “What a story!”

      I don’t wish to be cynical, or come across as Alex Jones-conspiracy-crazy (though I don’t mind a good conspiracy yarn once-in-a-while), but given the recent news story of Sandy Hook which was then quickly followed up with various Youtube presentations of claims of suspect characters and events such as actors portraying parents, attitude of Medical Examiner at press conference, gun in boot of car, police chasing a person running away from school into woods, etc – now, with regard to this man police chased into the woods (near school) it made one wonder why the media didn’t give such a ‘thorough investigation’ and identify who this individual was. Thought that this unidentified person was worthy of a thorough media investigation (like this dead girlfriend hoax) – it’s as if he…. didn’t exist.
      “What a story!”

      Report this comment

      strewth_cobber  
  • Big Tuna
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 10:11am

    Pro player Reagan Mauia say’s she’s real and he’s met her!

    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/01/17/cardinals-mauia-says-he-met-manti-teos-girlfriend-she-is-real/

    “I don’t think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was — I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa.”

    Report this comment

    Big Tuna  
  • grimjack3791
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 9:47am

    How was “she” ever his “girlfriend”? What’s this about speaking with “her” on the phone? Or was it just text messages? The girl did not exist, right?

    This is a high-profile, decent-looking football player for a huge university. He can’t get a girlfriend other than one who he only “knew” from the internet and text messages? Bullcrap.

    He was in on it. This was a scam and probably earned him a lot of extra sympathy votes leading to that trophy.

    Toss this lying tool in the garbage. If he hasn’t graduated yet, Notre Dame should expel him for conduct unbecoming.

    Report this comment

    grimjack3791  
    • HMNSC
      Posted on January 17, 2013 at 10:15am

      His ability to play was also a hoax, Alabama proved that.

      Report this comment

      HMNSC  
  • SocialistSlayer
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 9:17am

    And is Notre Dame really going to grant this Moron a Degree ???? Anyone this dumb and gullible I would want to have my institutions name on his degree !

    Report this comment

    SocialistSlayer  
  • RadicalRighty
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 8:35am

    What a whopper! Obama will be so impressed, he will definitely invite Te’o to the White House . . .

    Report this comment

    RadicalRighty  
  • Mossy_pump
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 7:33am

    Wtf?

    Report this comment

    Mossy_pump  
  • Zeon49
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 7:29am

    It’s a Hawiian tradition.

    Report this comment

    Zeon49  
  • Watchingtheweasels
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 12:15am

    This isn’t a fantasy girlfriend, she’s a “composite” girlfriend…just like Obama’s.

    Report this comment

    Watchingtheweasels  
  • Eastinfection
    Posted on January 17, 2013 at 12:08am

    Sounds like another bad episode of “Catfish”.

    Report this comment

    Eastinfection  
  • alinskythis
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 11:51pm

    The Blaze needs to choose a side.

    This is but a distraction.

    It’s not newsworthy.

    Report this comment

    alinskythis  
    • Eastinfection
      Posted on January 17, 2013 at 8:50am

      The Blaze isn’t, nor does it pretend to be, exclusively “hardcore news” and quite frankly, i’m glad they’re not. I enjoy the mix of stories/ gossip/ pop-culture, etc.

      The biggest attraction is this comment section. Most of the chatter on-line regarding the Blaze is not about the articles… it’s about the Blazers.

      WE are the real marketable product here.

      Report this comment

      Eastinfection  
  • DarkJello
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 10:26pm

    Press figured this out, but are still blind to Owebama…

    One is embarrassing and/or duplicitous, the other could not do more damage to America if he tried. Said another way, Manti’s gf is better for the US of A than the anointed one.

    Report this comment

    DarkJello  
    • sillyfreshness
      Posted on January 16, 2013 at 11:36pm

      Just another fake, phoney jock. I never even heard of this Manti Te’o until I saw Norte Dame playing USC last month. What’s funny is within the first 5 seconds of seeing him on TV I didn’t like him. I could tell he was cocky and so full of himself that he looked and acted like a douche. I thought he probably was a real ***** on campus. I concluded that after seeing him for 5 seconds. Guess I was right after all.

      This emphasis on sports is ruining our country. Jocks are considered gods if they can shoot a basketball or tackle somebody hard or run fast. For whatever reason this Manti Te’o decided to fabricate a story. Narcissistic is what I call it. Somehow his dead grandmother wasn’t what he cared about, it was some fictitious girlfriend that became the focus of his interviews. What a douche bag. I was right all along in my opinion of him.

      Report this comment

      sillyfreshness  
  • Chet Hempstead
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 9:39pm

    That poor guy, not only did his imaginary internet girlfriend fake her own death, but his beloved imaginary pet cat from his favorite YouTube video got run over by the car he almost bought on Ebay.

    Report this comment

    Chet Hempstead  
  • roxyRune
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:48pm

    The girlfriend and the notre dame defense have something in common……..they don’t exist

    Report this comment

    roxyRune  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:15pm

    It may have started out with Teo being the victim of the hoax. But at some point long before now he was aware that this girl never actually existed, yet he continued to perpetuate the fraud. He claimed to have gone back to hawaii to pay his respects at her funeral for ***** sake.

    He became a fellow perpetrator of the hoax because he was well aware the only reason he was even in the discussion for the heisman was because of that story. He only went to the school claiming to be purely a victim after it became apparent that the story was out and was going to be broken soon.

    Report this comment

    Rowgue  
  • truthisnotsubjective
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:12pm

    He’s as honest as Joseph Smith.

    Report this comment

    truthisnotsubjective  
  • RightThinking1
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:08pm

    Hey, the press bought the same story from O.

    Report this comment

    RightThinking1  
  • krjones
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:08pm

    We must ban football!

    Report this comment

    krjones  
  • Wool-Free Vision
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 7:00pm

    Snicker. I guess this goes to prove that “sports journalism” is just as much of a farce as mainstream journalism has become. This story was publicized by “sports journalists” from top to bottom, coast to coast FOR MONTHS, and not one actual journalist bothered to investigate the facts, they just all passed the rumor around and around.

    Journalism, you’re a pathetic joke.

    Report this comment

    Wool-Free Vision  
  • NiModo
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:56pm

    this just in…..POTUS and vp Bite’em issue Executive Order that prohibits the use of fantasy girlfriends…

    Report this comment

    NiModo  
  • barber2
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:51pm

    I remember hearing once about ” composite ” girlfriends, but this is a first…..

    Report this comment

    barber2  
  • M13
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:47pm

    I wouldn’t trust anything that Notre Dame says, they have already covered up two student deaths. So why would I start believing anything they say now?

    Report this comment

    M13  
  • RIGS
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:43pm

    He’s a LIBERAL the truth about it says it all……………………..

    Report this comment

    RIGS  
  • krjones
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:40pm

    Must be a conspiracy theory! Can’t be.. Glann says they don’t exist.

    Report this comment

    krjones  
  • GoodStuff
    Posted on January 16, 2013 at 6:38pm

    22-year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo

    Loser

    Report this comment

    GoodStuff  
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