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Manti Te’o is featured in new Netflix documentary about fake girlfriend hoax
By Keith Farner
Published:
Manti Te’o is featured in a new Netflix documentary about one of the most bizarre stories in college football history.
“The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist” is a two-part documentary that focuses on Te’o and the events that brought a catfishing hoax to light. It is set to premiere on Aug. 16. The Netflix description puts it this way: From Notre Dame to the NFL, Manti Te’o’s future in football showed promise until a secret online relationship sent his life and career spiraling.
Born into a Hawaiian paradise, All-American football standout Manti Te’o leads a simple life summed up in just three words: faith, family, football. College football’s golden boy could do no wrong, but when tragedy strikes, the increased scrutiny of his online relationship causes a media maelstrom that threatens his future and legacy. Featuring in-depth interviews with Manti Te’o and the person behind the online identity, Ronaiah ‘Naya’ Tuiasosopo.
In a statement to People, directors and executive producers Chapman Way and Maclain Way said Te’o’s story is “more complex and nuanced than we understood at the time.”
“Our goal with UNTOLD has always been to take these moments in sports history — whether infamous, like the Tim Donaghy betting scandal, or lesser-known, like the history of AND1 — and give viewers an unfiltered, inside-access look at what really happened, told by the people who lived it. With each story we’re continually surprised by our subjects — at how vulnerable they are willing to be, but also how relatable their experiences and journeys are on a deep, human level,” they say.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
