How the team behind Netflix's 'Untold' reframed the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax: 'I needed to reveal it'
The bizarre catfishing scandal that engulfed Notre Dame senior standout linebacker Manti Teo a decade ago is now the subject of a Netflix documentary.
T’O, currently an NFL free agent, discussed the project on CBS Mornings today called “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.”
“For me to recover from this, I needed to reveal it,” he said. “I challenged myself at this point to be open and have those difficult conversations if anyone asked about it or had a question about it, and I began to realize the strength I had to talk about it. Will meet you.”
Football player Manti Te’o discusses high-profile catfishing scandal
Soccer player Manti Teo, who learned in 2012 that his late online girlfriend was not only alive, but also the person he claimed to be, says he is speaking out about the situation in order to recover from it. In a new two-part Netflix documentary titled “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist,” the award-winning player and Heisman Trophy finalist offer their side of the story.
T’O, now a free agent, told “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday, “In order to recover from this, I needed to reveal it.” “I challenged myself at this point to be open and have those difficult conversations if anyone asked about it or had a question about it, and I began to realize the strength I had to talk about it. Will meet you.”
In 2013, reporters for sports outlet Deadspin were unable to locate records of Kekua’s death or car accident on the reported dates. He alleged that the real person behind the photos was someone from Seattle named Ronaya Tuassopo.
Teo told “CBS Mornings” that he was as surprised as the public to learn of the information at the time. Once someone later pointed to the shocking revelation to him, he didn’t reveal it.
“I didn’t know what to believe,” Teo said. “You don’t expect someone to say ‘Hey, someone’s dead,’ and three months later, ‘somebody’s alive.’ What do you do with that information?” said the football star. “Do you call someone up and say, “Hey, I just found out someone’s alive.”
Who is Manti Te’o?
Manti Te’o Lai is a 31-year-old Samoan-Hawaiian football linebacker from Hawaii.
He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Teo has also played for the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears.
When we got the news that we’d be able to make more “Untold” and we’d have volume two, it was a story that was on our literal and proverbial whiteboard of game ideas. It’s always been a white whale in the sports documentary space; This is something that my brother and I remember very well, just reading the news media and all the noise on it.
We reached out to Naya and just had a fascinating conversation with her. It was probably a call that was only going to be 15, 20 minutes, and we talked to him for two hours. And she just walked us through a remarkable journey she’s been on, a journey of self-discovery and self-identification and how she identifies as a trans woman.
I don’t think they wanted media coverage to span the end of this really long sentence that was the story between these two individuals. And so I think the opportunity for both of them to really do an in-depth interview about this story was fascinating and fascinating. And for us as filmmakers, when we really knew, “Well, we have something special here. I think we can go make this documentary film.”
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