Manti Te'o's Girlfriend Never Existed

[pmatic]

Friend: Tuiasosopo admitted to hoax

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has been publicly identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told Outside the Lines Thursday.

The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded.

She says Tuiasosopo gave her the tearful confession and account of how he played, what he said was at first a game, on the unsuspecting Te'o. And, she says, he told her that it wasn't the first time he had done it.

"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. ... The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'

"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to."

Notre Dame issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua, Te'o's supposed girlfriend, existing.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a news conference Wednesday night that coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.

Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone. Te'o had described staying on the phone with whom he thought was Kekua for hours each night over many months. Tuiasosopo's friend from church told ESPN that Tuiasosopo admitted to having his female cousin speak to Te'o over the phone.

OTL also interviewed two other people who said they have a cousin who had the same online hoax pulled on them by Tuiasosopo.

J.R. Vaosa, 28, of Torrance, Calif., and Celeste Tuioti-Mariner, 21, of Whittier, said that in 2008 their cousin began an online romance with a woman who portrayed herself as a model. Vaosa said the cousin showed Vaosa a picture on MySpace of a woman from a Victoria's Secret catalog that he said was Kekua. Vaosa said that the online Kekua would agree to meet his cousin at certain places. Vaosa said he went with the cousin to meet her.

"When Lennay said she was gonna be at this park one day, we'd go to the park and Ronaiah pops up and then we go to the gym in Orange County where the kids have volleyball tournaments, Ronaiah's there," Vaosa said.

Finally, the family convinced Vaosa's cousin that something wasn't right and he needed to cut things off not only with Kekua, but Tuiasosopo, whom they were convinced was the real Kekua, Tuioti-Mariner said.

"I just knew that my cousin would invite her to certain events and Lennay would always say she would go to those things, but she would never end up going and instead of her going we would see Ronaiah," Tuioti-Mariner said.

Then this fall, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner saw the story of Te'o's dying girlfriend.

"When I found out about the Samoan football player (and) his girlfriend, his Grandma died the same day, I was like, 'Whoa this is crazy,' I feel so bad for him, so I just looked him up," Vaosa said. "I found out his girlfriend's name was Lennay Kekua. And right when I read the name Lennay Kekua, I immediately thought of Ronaiah. Then I thought of my cousin -- that this has to be the same person."

The cousins say they were convinced Te'o was being victimized, but say they were uncertain of what to do. They say they began tweeting their suspicions. Many of their tweets were laced with sarcasm including claims that "they" were the real Lennay Kekua. After Deadspin.com broke the story on Te'o and Swarbrick held a news conference, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner found reporters at their door and say there were threats made to them and their families on Twitter.

Another person involved in the hoax has come forward as well. The woman whose photos were portrayed as Kekua was identified by Inside Edition as Diane O'Meara. Her lawyer told the program that her client is also a victim and that her photos were stolen and used to create the illusion of Te'o's girlfriend.

Deadspin.com reported in its original story that the woman whose images were used as Kekua's was actually a former high school classmate of Tuiasosopo and that he used a ruse to get her to send him at least one photo.

Meanwhile, the woman who says Tuiasosopo confessed to her says she has urged Tuiasosopo to take responsibility for his actions.

She said he called her Wednesday as the news of the hoax was breaking. She says he sounded calm but she worries about his guilt, to what he did to Te'o and what he did to his family name, one of the most prominent in all of Polynesian sports. She worries what he might do to himself.

"I (still) am worried for him (Ronaiah), not just him and his family but I know that you can't judge people like that and that's why I continue to just encourage (him) to come out and tell the truth," she said.

Link

 

[dman14]

should just come out and play the gay card
people wont say it publicly cause that will make them sound homophopic, etc

but what if he uses that as a lie, too?

 

[al3xis]

that would seem to be the best case. ND and Manti can move on from this if he's guilty of embellishing things afterward for the attention or to try to avoid embarrassment.

Still not buying it totally, but we'll see.


Like I said earlier, calling him gay was one big assumption.

 

[airblaster503]

]

This dude Manti must think people are ******ed if they are going to believe this. It still doesn't account for 1) Not seeing his "gf" ever in 3 years. 2) These long *** phone conversations, you want me to believe that this random chick was taking hours out of her days just to carry on a prank. I know there are some sick people out there but that just seems like a bit much. 3) The fact he was still bringing up stories of his deceased gf even after he supposedly knew she didn't exist.

Them trying to make you think Manti is innocent is the biggest load of bull I have seen in a while. Like the entire media is trying to back this guy to help him save face. Give me a damn break. It is time for the folks at ND and ESPN to call it like it is. There are way to many holes in this guys story to even make you remotely believe he is telling the truth that he didn't know.

 

[elpablo21]

Manti Te'o quietly began dating an actual living, breathing female human being ... shortly after he learned "Lennay Kekua" had died from cancer ... and the rebound chick is HOT ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Manti tell us ... the Notre Dame star met Alexandra del Pilar the weekend of November 10 -- when Notre Dame played Boston College.

Alexandra, 21, is a student at St. Mary's College in Indiana -- which is close to Notre Dame.

We're told Alexandra and Manti dated for nearly 2 months, but broke up recently.

There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.

Link

This **** just keeps getting weirder. If he really is gay why even go that far to cover it if indeed he ended up "dating" a real woman later on?

So it looks like if all this broke out in December he was still lying in September/October. I can see it being plausible he would lie to save himself from stigma that is dating online while still being duped at the same time (what are the odds?) but it still doesnt explain why his dad was lying too...That statement from his pops makes it less believable he was a complete victim

 

[truballa101]

Honestly. I believe he was duped. It's quite possible that they may have had a casual relationship (even though they never met) where they would just communicate here and there once in a while. It probably wasn't serious at all in the first 2 or 2.5 years but whoever was tricking him decided to be more forward as soon as Manti got a little more notoriety in college football. Things started to spark and the trickster probably kept blowing him off and probably didn't wanna Skype or meet up in public places or whatever. Manti HAD to be gullible enough to fall for this though which is possible for someone who has a mental problem, social problem or is just a straight cornball simp...

Pretty much I feel he was duped but also he knew he was wrong for blowing up this story in saying that this girl was the love of his life. He took this story, fabricated it, went along with it when he knew things weren't adding up.

 

[jordan23dotcom]

This guy is a liar!!! Lol, I'm just waiting for his orprah special to air within the next couple weeks

 

[al3xis]

He took this story, fabricated it, went along with it when he knew things weren't adding up.

this is looking more and more possible.

 

[jjs07]

this is looking more and more possible.

Still doesn't explain why his dad was lying as well. Maybe they're just as dumb as him. My parents love me to no end, but the last thing they'd be doing is lying on my behalf.

There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.

Wow............it is very convenient that these people step forward now. Notre Dame uses their money wisely huh?

That's from the comments on ESPN. I'm siding with whoever posted this.

and from Dr. Saturday:

Bottom line is whoever was involved in this hoax spent three years cultivating it and three months watching Te’o wax poetic about it on national television. Now, all of a sudden, everyone feels guilty and wants to come clean?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...ing-manti-te-183033980--ncaaf.html#more-25656

 

[moe szyslak]

I saw a clip of the actual girl on Nightline ABC last night. She has a nice body. She will sue and will get paid. Blee dat!

 

[RyGuy45]

Honestly. I believe he was duped. It's quite possible that they may have had a casual relationship (even though they never met) where they would just communicate here and there once in a while. It probably wasn't serious at all in the first 2 or 2.5 years but whoever was tricking him decided to be more forward as soon as Manti got a little more notoriety in college football. Things started to spark and the trickster probably kept blowing him off and probably didn't wanna Skype or meet up in public places or whatever. Manti HAD to be gullible enough to fall for this though which is possible for someone who has a mental problem, social problem or is just a straight cornball simp...

Pretty much I feel he was duped but also he knew he was wrong for blowing up this story in saying that this girl was the love of his life. He took this story, fabricated it, went along with it when he knew things weren't adding up.

Im starting to agree with this being the likely scenario. However sad and odd it is.

I think they likely were casual, then he got duped and also has no relationship skills and was like a puppy, and lastly he quite possibly lied to his parents and told them she was "visiting" him down there last summer and he would leave the house and thus his dad said she visited even though he never saw her. He takes his son's word he is off with some new girlfriend visiting.

Then he finds out (as many have) that his online GF is not real and is floored. Then has to go along with the story for awhile and stalls.

It was just his luck that he is a high profile athlete and has to deal with this. Not sorry for him in the least because he reaped the benefits earlier too.

I want to honestly say "there is no way this can be real" but I personally know of so many dudes who have gotten duped online that nothing even shocks anymore nor do the lengths these people go to scam, aka take on a persona for hours on the phone.

 

[bigmike23]

Like I said earlier, calling him gay was one big assumption.

There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.

not when u see stuff like that or some new random GF appear in the picture now

 

[jjs07]

Im starting to agree with this being the likely scenario. However sad and odd it is.

I think they likely were casual, then he got duped and also has no relationship skills and was like a puppy, and lastly he quite possibly lied to his parents and told them she was "visiting" him down there last summer and he would leave the house and thus his dad said she visited even though he never saw her. He takes his son's word he is off with some new girlfriend visiting.

Then he finds out (as many have) that his online GF is not real and is floored. Then has to go along with the story for awhile and stalls.

It was just his luck that he is a high profile athlete and has to deal with this. Not sorry for him in the least because he reaped the benefits earlier too.

I want to honestly say "there is no way this can be real" but I personally know of so many dudes who have gotten duped online that nothing even shocks anymore nor do the lengths these people go to scam, aka take on a persona for hours on the phone.

Still A LOT of holes in the story though. Doesn't explain the dude from the Cards saying how he and Polamalu met her on a goodwill visit overseas. Or how everyone is conveinently (sp?) coming forward in the DAYS following this story breaking. I still believe something is being covered up. In a major way.

 

[jordan23dotcom]

The girl is real and is still alive! So it's def all a lie. The question now is why he lied.

 

[al3xis]

It's still a pretty big personal characterization to make about someone we don't know.

Still doesn't explain why his dad was lying as well. Maybe they're just as dumb as him. My parents love me to no end, but the last thing they'd be doing is lying on my behalf.

I mean, his dad is going to be a liar either way. He either knew of the hoax or added on to a story to make it sound better.

 

[shoelyesses]

 

[airblaster503]

Still A LOT of holes in the story though. Doesn't explain the dude from the Cards saying how he and Polamalu met her on a goodwill visit overseas. Or how everyone is conveinently (sp?) coming forward in the DAYS following this story breaking. I still believe something is being covered up. In a major way.

Exactly. I am not buying into this being a hoax that he was completely oblivious to. That SI interview there are so many holes. For example when his gf was in the hospital he said she would tell the doctors or some **** to call her bf so she could sleep, then the interviewer goes on to confirm she was in a coma and wasn't able to speak at the time. The timetables are all wrong as well.

Then he says he was going to see her in the hospital, and that was in Hawaii, when he was on the plane. Then he goes on to say she was always in California. Dudes story is all over the place. He is like that friend that is a compulsive liar and he keeps lying so much his story slowly gets twisted to the point he can't recall anything correctly. I mean he didn't even know when she graduated, what injuries she had in the accident other than the fact she was in a coma. All his answers were vague as hell. Then he tries to paint her as a dream girl. Going over seas and helping children? Please, this is all some **** he came up with in his head.

The perfect girl, that never was.

 

[sofa king awsm]

View media item 223786

 

[finallyfamous]

View media item 223786

 

[mr marcus]

Lmaooo man this notre dame money and espn gonna let this ****** get away with it....there's so many stories and espn still trying to say he was duped ....espn don't wanna own up to the dickriding they were doing all season

 

[david bowman]

yeah, ESPN is really pushing the Te'o was duped story

that guy skip especially. 

 

[madj55]

This story was intriguing to me the day it came out but now I honestly could give two ***** about it, why is this really such a big deal?

 

[dajoka004]

Still doesn't explain why his dad was lying as well. Maybe they're just as dumb as him. My parents love me to no end, but the last thing they'd be doing is lying on my behalf.

His dad announced on the Te'o FB fan page that he was blacklisting a local paper for publishing a photo of him missing a tackle in the championship game. The guy is a loser.

View media item 223823

 

[fraij da 5 11]

Lol at the hurt feelings over that newspaper picture.

 

[RyGuy45]

Still A LOT of holes in the story though. Doesn't explain the dude from the Cards saying how he and Polamalu met her on a goodwill visit overseas. Or how everyone is conveinently (sp?) coming forward in the DAYS following this story breaking. I still believe something is being covered up. In a major way.

Exactly. I am not buying into this being a hoax that he was completely oblivious to. That SI interview there are so many holes. For example when his gf was in the hospital he said she would tell the doctors or some **** to call her bf so she could sleep, then the interviewer goes on to confirm she was in a coma and wasn't able to speak at the time. The timetables are all wrong as well.

Then he says he was going to see her in the hospital, and that was in Hawaii, when he was on the plane. Then he goes on to say she was always in California. Dudes story is all over the place. He is like that friend that is a compulsive liar and he keeps lying so much his story slowly gets twisted to the point he can't recall anything correctly. I mean he didn't even know when she graduated, what injuries she had in the accident other than the fact she was in a coma. All his answers were vague as hell. Then he tries to paint her as a dream girl. Going over seas and helping children? Please, this is all some **** he came up with in his head.

The perfect girl, that never was.

I agree there are a ton of holes

Alright check this out and yes this is a wild stab in the dark here playing devil's advocate....

Honestly right now I think dude just literally has zero social skills, never had a GF, and is completely street handicapped. Throw in the online pranksters and voila.

I think the "three year" relationship could have been two years of casual online friendship (nothing more) followed by her inventing an accident scenario this summer and him dropping everything and focusing on her, and her turning into his "girlfriend." He liked being able to say he's helping someone fight through death and pain and that helped make her his GF. He didn't get his story straight half the time in these interviews because he didn't even still know her backstory that well, just that he was focusing on the now and her recovery (yes I am really writing this ).

I now am seeing how this dude acts, talks, and even looks and I think he is that naive, like one in a thousand naive. I think he could be this dumb socially. I think his life has been football and church and family........and female relationships had been non existent through his 21st birthday. He certainly wouldn't be the first.

I'm completely admitting I could be wrong and would not be shocked to hear this was a gay coverup....