Mormon Athlete's Fake Girlfriend

[Kira]

This is the strangest story I've ever read : http://deadspin.com/5976517

 

 

Some theories about why he lied:

A. He thought it would help him win the Heisman trophy

B. He gay and was trying to hide it from his family and teammates

 

 

eta: It has not been proven that he was in on it, but it seems like he is knew this was fake.

[dawbs]

I do nkow one person who, when she went to college, had a fake boyfriend as a way of chasing off would-be suitors.

That's the nicest spin I can come up with, it was taht sort of ting that spun out of control

(and seriously, does NO ONE fact-check their articles?)

[Dysfundamental]

He has to have been in on it---he described their in-person meeting to reporters. Unless he just lied to reporters to make the story more interesting. But then his parents told reporters about the visits the son and the girlfriend had together. So either he lied to them, or they lied to reporters in order to make their son seem like less of a weirdo for having a "girlfriend" he'd never met, or...

Occam's Razor suggests he was in on it.

[lilwriter85]

That is a weird story and it reminded me a bit of Catfish and how a woman's image was used for a hoax.

[Kira]

That is a weird story and it reminded me a bit of Catfish and how a woman's image was used for a hoax.

I love Catfish! BTW, this story is everywhere. I can't wait to hear why he did this, I'm leaning towards B.

[lilwriter85]

I did a google search and it is going viral. I predict one of the news magazine shows like 20/20 or Datetline will do an episode on this. I would have to go with B too. He isn't a bad looking guy. The fake girlfriend was a kind of like a beard.

[Kira]

Most people are leaning toward "he's gay". Someone tweeted that coming out might be his only way out. If he lied to boost his chances of winning the Heisman trophy, he'll be the most hated college player. Coming out as gay will gain him sympathy. It's not easy being gay when your Samoan and Mormon.

[Dysfundamental]

Notre Dame's official position is that he was hoaxed; he released a statement to that effect shortly after their statement.

I guess he'd rather cop to lying to reporters about how he and Ms. Nonexistent met than cop to purposefully lying about the whole thing? I don't buy it, though.

[persuas1ve]

Deadspin has a great article on this. Apparently his parents lied about meeting the gf as well, so I find it extremely hard to believe he knew nothing. Considering the fake gf's twitter was run by a friend of Teo's (who records religious music & whose father is a preacher), I think it is extremely likely that he is on the DL for religio-cultural reasons. I think when he realized that the story could garner him some extra attention & began exploiting it publicly, everything snowballed.

[Kira]

Deadspin has a great article on this. Apparently his parents lied about meeting the gf as well, so I find it extremely hard to believe he knew nothing. Considering the fake gf's twitter was run by a friend of Teo's (who records religious music & whose father is a preacher), I think it is extremely likely that he is on the DL for religio-cultural reasons. I think when he realized that the story could garner him some extra attention & began exploiting it publicly, everything snowballed.

This quote is telling: "Was this Lennay Kekua? 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."

[micatite]

A name? Her name is... *looks down at set dining table for inspiration* Glass. Georgina...Glass. Yeah, that's it!

/Jan Brady

[Sumeri]

A name? Her name is... *looks down at set dining table for inspiration* Glass. Georgina...Glass. Yeah, that's it!

/Jan Brady

Ha!

[Guest]

I was at the game directly after the girlfriend's "death" and the grandmother's actual death. Although the team I was cheering for didn't win, when I heard about what Te'o had been through that week, I felt a lot of empathy and decided that he deserved to win that week. A lot of people felt like that, which is interesting because it was Michigan State's first at-home loss in over 2 seasons. Suddenly a losing season doesn't seem so bad.

I don't care if Te'o is covering up the fact that he is gay or any other reason he may have done this. He had the sympathy of the entire college football, Mormon, and Hawaiian communities behind him and gained popularity and nearly a Heisman because of a lie. If he did know about this, and I'm sure he had to, what an absolute jerk.

[ndmomma]

My dh has advanced degrees from ND, and we were there during some of Teo's time. Several of our neighbors were LDS student families who gushed about going to church with Manti Teo. Seems natural that a personality cult based on a liar would lead to occasional miniature versions like this.

[mirele]

I read the Deadspin article and one thing about the "Lennay" Twitter account stood out to me. There is a picture of the Los Angeles LDS temple in the background of the twitter account. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is a type of born-again Christian, not Mormon at all. How would he know to put that temple there?

[ndmomma]

Because Teo is in on this with him. Teo wasn't scammed. He was scamming. "Lying for the Lord" is a common theme throughout LDS history. Also, RT's name seems Samoan as well, and Samoan's are no strangers to Mormon culture.

[mirele]

Because Teo is in on this with him. Teo wasn't scammed. He was scamming. "Lying for the Lord" is a common theme throughout LDS history. Also, RT's name seems Samoan as well, and Samoan's are no strangers to Mormon culture.

Notre Dame is taking Te'o at his word about being hoaxed, but this is not going to end well, I don't think.

[ndmomma]

Covering their asses. ND has a strict CYA policy. I worked there for 3 years while my husband was getting his PhD. Liars and manipulators tend to find harbor there, in my experience.

[Widget]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... ently-hoax

One of the other players is claiming to have met her. I wonder if it was his friend in drag? :dance:

[Bbfamteam]

This is way more interesting than the bowl game

[Kira]

Te'o will have a press conference at noon tomorrow. I can't wait to hear his explanation because it's becoming obvious that he was in on the hoax.

[B5SnowDog]

A name? Her name is... *looks down at set dining table for inspiration* Glass. Georgina...Glass. Yeah, that's it!

/Jan Brady

Hee!

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

[SoybeanQueen]

This story is going to be a trainwreck of amazing proportions before it's all finished, I suspect. There's no way he didn't know. He said he met her in person.

According to an article I read today, Notre Dame has hired an investigator to find the person responsible for this mess. How awkward is it going to be when all roads lead back to Manti?

[dairyfreelife]

This story seems a mess and I don't buy the hoax thing. And then faking her death for sympathy? Extreme. Sometimes lies get out of control and can't get out of it well. Narcissism is often the cause, I believe. I used to lie about having ex-boyfriends before I had one, but I did it to not feel like a freak. It seemed everyone had a boyfriend or girlfriend or an ex and I did not so I lied when such questions came up. No details, just my exes and I don't speak anymore. I originally would say I never had one, but even back in high school people made me out to be a freak for no one wanting to date me. Even as a freshman I was seen as a freak. By college, I lied. It was not right, but I just did not want to feel so out of place anymore and I was beyond sick of the "sympathy" I'd get it like I said I had a terminal illness or someone I loved was dying. Yes, it was really the look and reaction I'd get, like something horrible had happened nd I could not stand it any longer.

Now, I don't think this guy lied for the reasons I did. I think he wanted the sympathy and attention while I did it to stop the attention and sympathy.

[usedtobenice]

Why would one lie and say their fake girlfriend died when he could have just as easily said they broke up? Her "death" was an end to the hoax which brought a ton of attention and ended blowing the whole thing open. A break up would have not put it the spotlight much. I guess he wanted to the sympathy and attention. If it were me, I would be scared to death of being exposed. His ego got in his way making him feel invincible.

I suspect he is gay and the other guy in cahoots with him is his boyfriend. :whistle: