Manti Te'o's first television interview will be with... Katie Couric?
On the heels of Lance Armstrong admitting to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o has granted his first televised interview to veteran news anchor Katie Couric according to the New York Times. During the interview with Couric, Te'o will be joined by his parents Brian and Ottilla, which will continue to push the narrative that Te'o was a victim in the Lennay Kekua scandal.
Te'o was interviewed (off camera, mind you) by ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Friday evening, and he came under a lot of criticism for that decision due to the lack of transparency related to not putting his face on camera. Now, Te'o will once again take the easy way out and participate in an interview that is entirely on his terms. With his parents also on site for the interview, it's a very favorable situation for the Fighting Irish star that will likely continue to further the story that Te'o, his parents, his agents, and Notre Dame want to proceed with as opposed to getting a fuller version of the truth.
This whole situation is extremely fishy. Te'o's spokesman that was hired this week, Matthew Hiltznik, is also the spokesman for Couric. Both are also represented by CAA. Just those facts alone indicates to me that Te'o isn't going to be asked anything remotely difficult to answer during the interview, and that he'll be thrown softball after softball with few relevant follow-ups.
The interview will air on Couric's talk show Katie this Thursday, but excerpts will be airing on Good Morning America and other ABC News programs before the full interview airs. Of course, because ABC and ESPN are under the same umbrella, I wouldn't be surprised to see ESPN also airing clips this week before the interview premieres.
This is all just a giant mess, and probably won't do anything to help Te'o in the long run. He had a chance to clear the air with Schaap on Friday, but that "interview" with one of his representatives present only produced more questions. Now, he's going to interview with a daytime talk show that will likely be a friendly environment and include fewer difficult questions.
Have Armstrong and Te'o set the bar at a different level for scandal-plagued athletes in the future? It's probably a little presumptive of me to think that Couric *won't* ask Te'o any tough questions given the surprisingly good job Oprah did, but when you look at the big picture you get the sense this is a situation Te'o and his team have carefully crafted.
If Te'o and his handlers think this is simply going to be swept under the rug with one interview, he's got another thing coming. More than likely, there are going to be more questions than answers once again coming out of his interview with Couric, and this isn't an issue that's going to die after the interview airs on Thursday.
[NY Times]
What a joke. I feel sorry for the people who believe all the lies coming out of the Te'o camp. Said people are obviously extremely gullible or stupid, or both.
I get people's curiosity over the situation, but sit at your desks or where ever and pass judgement that somehow you know there is a "fuller version of the truth" out there, that's a hole different story. Do you really blame the man for wanting to keep an embarrassing situation under wraps as much as possible? He doesn't owe any of us anything if what he is telling us is the truth. I don't see anyone asking the bigger question of why it's any of our business to begin with?
Shocker... people lie, could've been lied to.... it happens every day in America.
It will end up being Te'o telling us he was not part of the hoax, he lied to his family about meeting her, he exaggerated things to Notre Dame and the media. There now he doesn't have to do the show.
Has everyone forgotten that Katie Couric started her carrer on the Today Show on NBC and isn't that somewhat of a "News 'Show???
@CUbsfan I don't consider what she did on that show to be "news". Yes, they so some news information, but The Today Show doesn't exactly inspire thoughts of a big-time news show. Too much "cute" factor to be taken very seriously. But then, I think that way of all those early morning shows, and I haven't watched one in a very long time.
Katie Couric ain't no Oprah Winfrey to begin with. But the context is not even a "news" context, it's a stinkin' daytime "show". It's a show, and it's gonna go just the way Manti and his peeps want it to go. Couric won't get to the bottom of anything, and Te'o will come off looking more and more like a victim.
This won't be the last time Te'o will face questions. The media, meanwhile, must still do more investigation into this affair.
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I kinda want to see him interviewed on 60 Minutes...if Mike Wallace were still with us, you know he won't rest until he gets the answers we want.
