Manti Te’o (Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o was asked by Katie Couric the question a lot of people have been asking in the wake of his imaginary girlfriend: are you gay? Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk has the context:
Couric asked Te’o, “Are you gay?”
Te’o, who up to that point had calmly answered questions suggesting that he’s naive, stupid and a liar, grew emphatic as he insisted that he is heterosexual.
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o was asked by Katie Couric the question a lot of people have been asking in the wake of his imaginary girlfriend: are you gay? Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk has the context:
Couric asked Te’o, “Are you gay?”
Te’o, who up to that point had calmly answered questions suggesting that he’s naive, stupid and a liar, grew emphatic as he insisted that he is heterosexual.
“No, far from it. Far from it,” Te’o said.
The emphasis Te’o placed on being “far from” gay was striking. At other times in the interview, Couric grilled Te’o about being “the most naive person on the planet” involved in a “web of lies,” and Te’o didn’t flinch. But when Couric asked Te’o if he’s gay, Te’o took umbrage. Te’o seemed to be saying, “Katie, you can call me naive, call me stupid, call me a liar. But don’t dare call me gay.”
Celebrity publicist Howard Bragman, who has taken Esera Tuaolo, John Amaechi, Sheryl Swoopes and others out of the closet, said Te’o’s team had prepared him well for the gay issue.
“They would have been naive to have not prepped him for this question,” Bragman told Outsports. “And while he may be naive, his publicist is anything but.”
His publicist happens to be the same publicist as Couric.
