Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Analysis: Dr. Phil attempts to unravel Tuiasosopo's role in Te'o saga
Sound Bend Tribune ^ | Jan. 31, 2013 | Eric Hansen

Posted on 01/31/2013 4:33:58 PM PST by Colofornian

Of course it ended in a cliffhanger -- and also raised more questions than it put to bed.

As the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax saga entered its third week, and with America seemingly desperate to finally look away, Part I of Dr. Phil McGraw's two-part grilling of admitted hoax mastermind Ronaiah Tuiasosopo turned out to be largely an appetizer for Part 2.

The Dr. Phil show ended Thursday with McGraw confronting Tuiasosopo about the latter's assertion he was the actual voice of Lennay Kekua. Kekua is the character Tuiasosopo created and Te'o purportedly fell in love with, through on-line contact and phone calls, during his senior season as an All-America linebacker at Notre Dame.

Thursday the story line veered as far from the football field as it has since Deadspin.com first introduced it on Jan. 16 with a media feeding frenzy following. Deadspin also strongly suggested Te'o was a part of the deception, a notion Tuiasosopo became the latest to vehemently deny.

Te'o had provided Katie Couric tapes of voice mails from the Kekua character, which Couric played on air when he was a guest on Couric's own daytime talk show, Katie, on Jan. 24.

The New York Post last week reported that a female cousin of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, Tino Tuiasosopo, was the person who was Kekua's voice in the phone calls. Tuiasosopo's lawyer, however, told the New York Daily News last week that his client was the voice of Kekua.

A week later, McGraw played the same tapes, then told Tuiasosopo, "I think it's important for people to see the voice control and see you speak in the female voice."

"I can't even if I tried," Tuiasosopo responded. "There's a whole lot that went into pushing me to do that, to go to that extreme consistently. And for me to just do it like -- can you do the voice? -- Even if I try, it just doesn't come out right."

McGraw then told Tuiasosopo that he contacted private contractors that do voice work for the FBI and the Secret Service.

"I gave them that voice mail," McGraw said. "And I gave them your voice. And I had them do a highly scientific spectra analysis of our voice and score them both. They looked at everything from voice intonation to tonal qualities."

The voices are scored on a scale from 0 to 100, with anything 60 and above constituting a match. Tuiasosopo's voice scored a 16 in the analysis.

"They said the chance that you were the person on that voicemail is like 1 in 10 million," McGraw said, "that it is not you, not even possible. You're telling me that you're telling the truth and I'm telling you that the best scientific analysis in the world is saying that it is not. I say, 'Just do the voice.' "

"I've never done it in front of people," Tuiasosopo said. "Ever single time I've ever spoken that voice, I was never by people. I was in dark room away from people."

Part II, which airs Friday at 3 p.m., locally on WSBT-TV, picks up at that point.

Among the other ground covered in Thursday's show:

* Tuiasosopo denied he assumed the Kekua identity to get money from Te'o.

"I didn't ask (Te'o) him for anything," he said. "I didn't ask him for money. I didn't ask him for, not even an autograph. I didn't ask for anything.

"I never wanted anything, and that's what really hurt. To read all these different reports about how I had done this, not just to maliciously attack and hurt him but to read that I was trying to do it to take money from him. He knows for a fact that that's not true."

* Tuiasosopo said the only time he met Te'o in person was the weekend of the Nov. 24 ND-USC game in Los Angeles, and that he almost told the linebacker the truth at that meeting.

"I met him at their hotel, at the team hotel," he said. "Myself and my little sister went to visit him. I wanted to tell him everything right then and there, and that's the truth. But shortly after, his uncle and a lot of his uncle's friends and some other family, they all came in. I was just like, 'it wasn't the right time.' "

*Tuiasosopo said he developed romantic feelings for Te'o.

"Of course, it's very shameful and very painful to even talk about," Tuiasosopo said. "Even now, it's hard to talk about. But the truth of it is, is that happened. I grew feelings. I grew emotions that, sooner or later, I couldn't control anymore. And it just lingered on.

"When I tried to end things, I tried every other way to end this. I tried this lie and this lie and this lie, but nothing would work."

When asked by McGraw if Tuiasosopo is gay, the latter responded, "Honestly if you look at this situation and look at everything that I've been through, of course, you'd say, I would say, 'Yeah, I'm gay.'

"But honestly, I'm so confused. I'm so lost and I'm just finding me. And this whole experience and all these problems are introduc-ing me to myself through everything.

"But what you know is you did have romantic feelings for another man?" McGraw pressed.

"Yes," Tuiasosopo said. "You've heard of recovering drug addicts. It takes a lot of courage to stand and say that. To recover from homosexuality and this type of thing -- not just that -- but coming back to your real life, as hard of a task it is, I'm going to do all that I can to live right."

* Why did Tuiasosopo choose cancer as the vehicle to end the relationship?

"There were a lot of reasons why cancer played into this," he said. "Again, when people were saying it was a cruel joke -- Cruel true. Joke never.

"It was never intended as a joke. It was never to be funny, but in this situation, I was just trying to do everything to end it, 'cause I knew no matter what, it just wasn't right and it was never going to be."

* Tuiasosopo went into a winding story when asked why he chose a time frame so close to Te'o's grandma's death to kill off the Lennay character. He said Te'o and Kekua had broken up and were arguing when Tuiasosopo said Te'o told Kekua of the grandmother's passing.

"He went on further and said, 'No I don't need you,' " Tuiasosopo related.

"Was this retaliatory? Were you angry? Is this why you killed her off?" McGraw said.

"I've given so much into this, and I realized right then in that moment that I poured so much into Lennay that I, myself, wasn't getting nothing, and look what I was left with," Tuiasosopo said.

"I was crying that morning. I was hurt emotionally. Just all kinds of things just took over. And so right then and there, I made the decision I can't do this Lennay thing anymore, and I ended it."

Tuiasosopo said he contacted Te'o as Lennay (on Dec. 6) to further the truth.

"I felt like even if we ended this and we moved on with our lives and this wasn't brought back up and the truth wasn't known, that we wouldn't be truly moving on," Tuiasosopo said. "It just wasn't the truth, Right then and there I knew I needed to come clean and make everything right."

" 'Catfish' refers to people who assume an identity and mislead them and defraud them," McGraw said. "Catfish, they never come clean. They never connect and try to square things up. But you did. Why did you need to come clean?

"As a person," Tuiasosopo responded, "I just felt like in my own life, before I could do anything or go any further I had to come clean."

Staff writer Eric Hansen: ehansen@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6112


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: hoax; inman; mantiteo; notredame; tuiasosopo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-45 next last
To: Colofornian
Why, if you could just talk to Joseph Smith now -- and actually were able to get the "straight scoop" from him re: Mormonism --


Well; history HAS recorded his words; as well as his contemporaries on a LOT of things.

Want to read some of them??



Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).
Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).
 
 
 
Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).
 
 
 
Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).
 
 
 
Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses
, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).
 
 
President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).
 
 
 
James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).
 
 
 
President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).
 
 
 
More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).
 
 
 
President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).
 
 
President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

21 posted on 02/01/2013 4:01:48 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: laweeks
Nothing like the credibility of Dr.Phil . . . a big tall, overweight psychologist who sells diet books and gets away with it.

So true!

We have books to GIVE away!!



22 posted on 02/01/2013 4:05:00 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2banana
I bet liberal heads were exploding. I thought all gays were "born that way" and had a "gay gene" and could never change!


That's because they have no idea what the BIBLE says!!


Genesis 13:13
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and
their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men
from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them
."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

 

Psalms 12:8      The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Ain't this just FABULOUS??      More?

Isaiah 3:9   The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

2 Peter 2:13b  Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.


 

 

Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.



2 Peter 2

 1.  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
 2.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
 3.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
 4.  For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,  putting them into gloomy dungeons  to be held for judgment;
 5.  if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
 6.  if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
 7.  and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
 8.  (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
 9.  if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
 10.  This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature  and despise authority.   Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
 11.  yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
 12.  But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
 13.  They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done.
Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.



But there IS hope!!!

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

 9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
     Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

 


If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...

23 posted on 02/01/2013 4:06:38 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: svcw
Te’o lied even after he found out the truth.


MOM!!!

You have GOT to believe me THIS time!

I was out in the woods - yeah;

and I was running for home - yeah...

and then I came upon this two, uh two; uh... PERSONAGES!! _yeah; that's it...

And they told me...

BOY!

I've had enOUGH of your lies for one day. Do your chores NOW or get a GOOD thrashing!!!

24 posted on 02/01/2013 4:12:55 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ozzymandus
You're a despicable bigot.

I hate when that attitude shows up; especially here on FR; where most all kinds of views are permitted...


"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned;

and I will go still further and say, take this revelation, or any other revelation that the Lord has given,

and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned.

Brigham Young - JoD 3:266 (July 14, 1855)

25 posted on 02/01/2013 4:14:33 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: ozzymandus
Show me where I said it was “OK”.

Show me BIGOT!!



26 posted on 02/01/2013 4:17:02 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ozzymandus
I just wondered how some Notre Dame football player’s imaginary girlfriend could be blamed on the Mormons.

Stay tuned...

27 posted on 02/01/2013 4:18:12 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr
Oh; you guys give as good as you get; but let's NOT let this juicy thread about a fellow who's been deceived by the LIES of the heresy MORMONism get turned into yet another C vs P thread.

(Watch for that MORMON tactic to appear soon...)

28 posted on 02/01/2013 4:20:15 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
We have books to GIVE away!!

MAybe so; but do NOT be expecting to find any of our most precious doctrines and practices in it.

They are tucked away in OTHER Scriptures we hold dear!



29 posted on 02/01/2013 4:23:21 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
this juicy thread about a fellow who's been deceived by the LIES of the heresy MORMONism

Nothin' about that in the article, which I think is the point of the poster I replied to. The need to make it so appears like an obsession or fixation - and not a healthy one.

30 posted on 02/01/2013 7:35:03 AM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: ozzymandus; Colofornian
Found another way to bash Mormons,eh? You're a despicable bigot.

Wow! Such anger! Seems you are a follower of Mormonism - is that correct? Whatever you are, an apology to Colofornian is in order.

31 posted on 02/01/2013 11:06:26 AM PST by presently no screen name
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr
Nothin' about that in the article,

Maybe not; but the info IS available; and it can pretty well explain some of "this juicy thread about a fellow"'s actions.

32 posted on 02/01/2013 11:49:43 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr
The need to make it so appears like an obsession or fixation - and not a healthy one.

Oh?

I merely bring out the EVIDENCE.

People can form their OWN opinion as to whether it fits.

I'm sure you are not against more INFO being provided; right?

33 posted on 02/01/2013 11:51:18 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: presently no screen name
Seems you are a follower of Mormonism - is that correct?

Just why do you hateful ANTI's seem to think that any pure soul who detects bigotry towards MORMONism is neccessarily a MORMON?

If you wuzn't such a bigot; you could see the hatefulness of your position.

MORMONs have never done nuttin' to NOBODY!

--MormonDude(When would be a good time for a couple of our well trained young folks to come to your humble home and speak to you and your loving family about the Restored Gospel®?)

34 posted on 02/01/2013 12:06:10 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: All

Good grief, could all you anti-mormonism bigots please give it a rest?


35 posted on 02/01/2013 12:11:01 PM PST by Hoodat ("As for God, His way is perfect" - Psalm 18:30)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Colofornian

Did you ever consider for a moment that Te’o is gay? The whole fake girlfriend story was a front.


36 posted on 02/01/2013 12:12:53 PM PST by Hoodat ("As for God, His way is perfect" - Psalm 18:30)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
Your posts on this thread - and many others - look like Quix on steroids. It's obsessive repetitive spam.

Take a long and reflective look yourself and ask if this is effective or healthy. Whatever your rationalization, I'm not going to encourage it.

Pax tecum.

37 posted on 02/01/2013 12:24:01 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Hoodat

>>>The whole fake girlfriend story was a front.

That’s a possibility. But, I don’t think it was knowingly a front. He may have used “her” for this without knowing it was a fake.


38 posted on 02/01/2013 12:26:41 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Hoodat
Good grief, could all you anti-mormonism bigots please give it a rest?

Yeah!!

What he said!

We can barely get on a porch these days without the folks there already knowing what we're up to!

39 posted on 02/01/2013 6:42:44 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: D-fendr
Your posts on this thread - and many others - look like Quix on steroids. It's obsessive repetitive spam.

Ma'am; we ONLY do this 6 days a week; for about a year.

Then we go back to a normal life. (As normal as it gets for a MORMON.)


40 posted on 02/01/2013 6:44:26 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson