This might be a little late to discuss this story but it remains one of the interesting hoax stories to date. The Manti Te’o Hoax Story became a major media coverage in 2013 which covered how an American footballer fell for a fake girlfriend trick and a hoax story.
In this article, you will know what exactly happened and how it all turned out at last. Explore to know more about the Fake person Lennay Kekua and the actual person behind this……
The Manti Te’o Hoax Story Explained
The story dates back to 2009 when Manti supposedly met the girl named Lennay Kekua who was a Stanford student and a football fan. They were said to have exchanged their numbers.
There is a very long story about different situations and different social media talks. Cutting it short and speaking of the conclusion, a person named Ronaiah Tuisasopo is the main person who faked being the girl.
It turned out Manti Te’o’s girlfriend never existed. Now the strange saga is the subject of an @ESPN show | By @ryanwmcdonald https://t.co/JSqepp0oMr
— Deseret News (@DeseretNews) December 31, 2020
Tuisasopo made a fake account by the name of Lennay Kekua using the photo of his college friend named Diane O’meara.
The same person talked with manti as the girl on social media but never met him in real life or on a video call. Manti’s parents had also believed about their son’s relationship with the girl and had tweeted several things confirming that Manti met her even though they never saw it.
How the Hoax Ended? How was It Exposed?
This continued till 2012 and Lennay was supposed to have surgery in 2012 after a dangerous car accident. After the surgery, she was believed to come back home. Manti’s grandmother passed away in September and after that, his parents were about to meet Lennay the following Sunday.
Within 48 hours of the death of his grandmother, Manti informed his parents about the death of Lennay as well which became a huge talking topic. Manti played even after double tragedy and was talk of the Highschool football.
However, on further investigations, it all turned out to be a hoax created by Tuisasopo using a fake name and picture and speaking with Manti in a girl’s voice.
Not even Manti knew about it but he didn’t say about not meeting her in real life because he didn’t want to make himself look like someone who fell in love over social media.
You can find the complete details about the Hoax in Bleacher Report.
Where is Manti Te’o Now?
Manti Te’o is currently playing football and is considered one of the best players around. The 29-year-old plays as a Linebacker for Chicago Bears.
The American footballer recently married his personal trainer Jovi Nicole Engbino in 2020 as per his official Wikipedia bio.
Who is the Actual Person Known As Lennay Kekua?
The name Lennay Kekua turned out to be a fake name but the person whose photos were used was known to be Diane O’Meara. Her college friend Tuisasopo used her photos from Facebook and Instagram to create a fake account.
Lennay never knew about it either. She was asked to send pictures of her showing different signs many times by the culprit. She only knew about it when it came on the media and her photos were shown.
Diane is a Marketing Executive living in California and is 30 years old as of now. no further details about her have been revealed yet.