Manti Te'o Tells Katie Couric He Briefly Lied About Girlfriend After Hoax Discovery
Manti Te'o briefly lied to the media and the public after discovering his online girlfriend did not exist and was a part of an elaborate hoax, he admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric. The star Notre Dame linebacker, who has been hounded by the reporters since the story broke Jan. 16, told Couric in a taped interview Tuesday that he was not lying up until December. Te'o said he was duped into believing his online girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of cancer. "You stuck to the script. And you knew that something was amiss, Manti," Couric said. Te'o found out that Kekua was a hoax on Dec. 6, but on Dec. 8 he again publicly mentioned his girlfriend. The remark came as Te'o was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the award for the best college football player in the country. Te'o was eventually a runner-up for the trophy. "Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12," Te'o said. "Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?" Te'o said. Te'o, 21, was joined by his parents, Brian and Ottilia, in the interview. "Now many people writing about this are calling your son a liar. They are saying he manipulated the truth, really for personal gain," Couric said to Te'o's father. "People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said with tears in his eyes. Diane O'Meara told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that she was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's online girlfriend without her knowledge or consent. O'Meara said that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating Kekua. "I've never met Manti Te'o in my entire life. I've never spoke with him. I've never exchanged words with him," O'Meara said Tuesday. The 23-year-old marketing executive went to high school in California with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. Tuiasosopo called to apologize the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, she said. In an interview with ESPN last week, Te'o said he had received a Twitter message from Tuiasosopo apologizing for the hoax. The Hawaiian also spoke to Tuiasosopo on the phone the day the Deadspin report came out, according to ESPN.com. He found out that "two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," he said. But he did not know the identities of the other individuals involved, other than the man he says was Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old resident of California, has not admitted involvement publicly. Tuiasosopo graduated from Paraclete High School in Lancaster, Calif., in 2007 and has posted dozens of videos online singing Christian songs.
The Last of Robin Hood
Dakota Fanning is set to play Kevin Kline‘s teenage girlfriend in the true Hollywood story "The Last Of Robin Hood." The film chronicles the final years of Tasmanian actor Errol Flynn‘s life with Kline portraying the swashbuckling screen icon. Fanning will play 17 year-old actress Beverly Aadland, who was by Flynn’s side when he died at the age of 50 in 1959. Susan Sarandon is also attached as Beverly's mother Florence who wrote the 1961 book "The Big Love" which accused Flynn of starting a sexual relationship with her then 15 year-old daughter Beverly. Beverly later confirmed the claims.
Queen of the Night
Rosario Dawson has joined the cast of Atom Egoyan’s thriller "Queen of the Night." Ryan Reynolds stars as the father of an abducted daughter who uncovers a series of disturbing clues eight years later that suggest she is still alive. Dawson will play the detective in charge of the investigation.
Freezer
Peter Facinelli ("Twilight") and Yuliya Snigir ("A Good Day to Die Hard") will join Dylan McDermott in Mikael Salomon's action thriller "Freezer" at Envision Media Arts. Shooting begins this month in Edmonton, Canada. McDermott plays an average man who awakens to find himself locked in an industrial freezer by Russian thugs who insist he returns the $8 million dollars he stole from them. The trouble is he has no idea what they are talking about.
Voice actor for Charlie Brown arrested
Authorities in California say the voice actor who portrayed Charlie Brown in many "Peanuts" shows was arrested on charges that include stalking. The 56-year-old is set to be arraigned Wednesday on counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and stalking. His manager has declined to comment. Robbins was the voice of Charlie Brown for TV specials, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
TV NEWS
"Mad Men" will return to screens this April. The critically adored, relentlessly blogged about, frequently awarded AMC show will kick off a sixth season of alcoholism, infidelity and advertising accounts with a special two-hour premiere on April 14 at 9 p.m. Following the premiere, "Mad Men" will return to its regular time slot at 10 p.m. with an episode written by Jonathan Igla and Weiner, and directed by star Jon Hamm.
BBC America have announced a March 30th premiere date in the U.S. for the second half of the seventh season of "Doctor Who." The U.K. premiere date has also been confirmed for the same day.
It was never all that likely that Steve Carell would make a return appearance on "The Office" before the show ended, but absent a definitive word from Carell or the show, speculation continued. Carell has pretty well shut that down now, explaining that he doesn't think Michael Scott coming back to Scranton would make much sense. "I just didn't think it was right for the character," Carell said at Sundance, where his movie "The Way, Way Back" premiered this week. "That character had an arc within the story, and kind of grew and sort of evolved past the idea of the documentary." "Office" executive producer Greg Daniels said as much in a press conference last week, noting that "Steve is very much of the opinion that the 'Goodbye, Michael' episode and the story arc he did leading up to it was his goodbye to the show."
Adele is returning to the stage for the first time since becoming a mom, to sing her James Bond theme song "Skyfall" at the upcoming Academy Awards. The singer, who gave birth to a son in October, is nominated in the Best Original Song category for "Skyfall," and she will be at the Los Angeles ceremony in person to perform it on February 24.
The b---- in Apartment 23 has been evicted. ABC has pulled the comedy "Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23" from its Tuesday night schedule. It is not yet known when the remaining eight episodes of the comedy will run. The two-hour series premiere of "The Taste" will air in its 9:30 p.m. time slot this Tuesday.
"American Horror Story" co-creator Ryan Murphy says that first season cast member Taissa Farmiga is in talks for season three. Murphy says the part is one of the leads in the season.
"The Newsroom" has found new representation. Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama has cast Marcia Gay Harden in the role of attorney Rebecca Halliday, an attorney who represents Atlantis Cable News against a wrongful-termination lawsuit. Harden, who has appeared on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Body of Proof," is replacing "United States of Tara" star Rosemarie DeWitt, who had to bow out of the series after filming two episodes due to scheduling conflicts. DeWitt's scenes will be re-filmed with Harden in her place. The second season of "The Newsroom" will premiere in the summer.
Fox is pulling Ben and Kate from its schedule. Fox says the remaining Ben and Kate episodes will air at some point (there are six left). Given Ben and Kate‘s ratings, the move wasn’t a surprise (if anything, some were shocked the show received an order for additional episodes last fall). Doubling up on Hope through February will make room for the return of Hell’s Kitchen, which will launch March 12 at 8 p.m. and lead into New Girl and The Mindy Project.
Tonight's Premieres:Lifetime: Project Runway at 9p
DIY Network: House of Bryan at 930p
Tonight's Finale:ABC: Last Resort at 8p
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