{"id":1622470,"date":"2022-08-26T07:47:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T11:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1622470"},"modified":"2022-08-26T07:48:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T11:48:19","slug":"netflix-lets-manti-teos-catfishing-abuser-off-the-hook-because-hes-transgender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netflix-lets-manti-teos-catfishing-abuser-off-the-hook-because-hes-transgender\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Lets Manti Te\u2019o\u2019s Catfishing Abuser Off The Hook Because He\u2019s Transgender"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnetflix-lets-manti-teos-catfishing-abuser-off-the-hook-because-hes-transgender%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1622470&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>It\u2019s no secret that the entertainment industry is completely in the tank for the transgender movement, but a recent episode of the Netflix documentary series \u201cUntold\u201d titled, \u201cThe Girlfriend Who Didn\u2019t Exist\u201d takes it to the extreme.<\/p>\n<p>The episode purports to tell the story of how Notre Dame football star Manti Te\u2019o was victimized by a Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo is a \u201ccatfish,\u201d someone who creates a fake online persona to lure victims into personal relationships. Around 2007 or 2008 Tuiasosopo created a fake Facebook account posing as a young woman named Lennay Kekua. Tuiasosopo roped a number of men into online relationships before befriending Te\u2019o in 2009. <\/p>\n<p>For the next three years, Tuiasosopo conned Te\u2019o into believing that Kekua was his deeply devoted girlfriend. When the hoax blew up in 2013, it blew up not in Tuiasosopo\u2019s face but Te\u2019o\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the documentary fails to tell the story properly because it does not portray Tuiasosopo as the monster he is. If anything, it enables him in his delusions. The reason is that Tuiasosopo is now a trans woman named Naya.<\/p>\n<p>The documentary signals at the beginning that it is going to treat Tuiasosopo as a member of a protected class with the following Disclaimer: \u201cAt the time of this filming, subjects were not aware that Ronaiah identified as a transgender woman.\u201d Te\u2019o was the victim of a vicious hoax, but what really matters is that he didn\u2019t use the correct pronouns when referring to Tuiasosopo.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s just a few ways Tuiasosopo deceived Te\u2019o:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tuiasosopo impersonated a female voice to near perfection, convincing Te\u2019o he was actually talking to a woman during their phone conversations.<\/li>\n<li>Naturally, Te\u2019o eventually wanted to meet Tuiasosopo\u2019s female alter-ego, Kekua, in person. To put him off, Tuiasosopo posed as Kekua\u2019s cousin and called Te\u2019o to inform him that Kekua had been in a near-fatal car crash.<\/li>\n<li>Tuiasosopo also pretended that Kekua was in a hospital bed and held up his phone so Te\u2019o could talk to her. He then simulated a loud breathing sound to trick Te\u2019o into thinking Kekua was on a ventilator.<\/li>\n<li>Te\u2019o called every day as Tuiasosopo had persuaded him that the phone calls were helping Kekua improve. As Kekua recovered, Te\u2019o would again want an in-person meeting. Tuiasosopo solved that by posing as Kekua again and telling Te\u2019o that she had been diagnosed with leukemia while in the hospital.<\/li>\n<li>On September 12, 2012, Tuiasosopo pretended to be Kekua\u2019s brother and called Te\u2019o to inform him that Kekua had passed away. This was on the same day that Te\u2019o\u2019s grandmother actually did die.<\/li>\n<li>About two weeks before Te\u2019o and Norte Dame played Alabama in the College Football National Championship game, Tuiasosopo again called Te\u2019o. He initially posed as Kekua\u2019s sister, but then claimed he was really Kekua; thus, Kekua was still alive. This threw Te\u2019o into immense emotional turmoil, affecting his play during the championship game. Alabama walloped Notre Dame, 42-14.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To call such behavior manipulative is an understatement. Yet nowhere in the documentary is Tuiasosopo described as a manipulator. During a 2013 episode of his eponymous television show, Dr. Phil did call Tuiasosopo manipulative. Dr. Phil appears in the \u201cUntold\u201d documentary, but only to comment on Tuiasosopo\u2019s talent at mimicking a female voice. Did the producers forget to ask Dr. Phil his opinion on Tuiasosopo\u2019s behavior? One wonders what ended up on the cutting room floor.<\/p>\n<p>Nor does anyone speculate on whether Tuiasosopo is a narcissist or perhaps even a sociopath. That\u2019s remarkable since there is plenty of material to work with.<\/p>\n<p>Tuiasosopo constantly evades responsibility, saying that he could not control what he was doing. It \u201cbecame, literally, a black hole that consumed my life,\u201d he says of his online persona. \u201cI see now why God never saved me,\u201d he laments.<\/p>\n<p>But he\u2019s happy to take credit for some of Te\u2019o\u2019s football success claiming that his counsel improved the player\u2019s focus. Tuiasosopo, who played high school football himself, supposedly gave crucial advice to Te\u2019o about an upcoming Notre Dame game. \u201cIn that game, I was pointing out exactly what happened, where <em>we<\/em> ended up winning because of a defensive effort.\u201d [Italics added.]\n<p>While preparing for his appearance on the \u201cDr. Phil\u201d show, Tuiasosopo decides not to tell the full truth, but only because he was concerned with Te\u2019o\u2019s welfare. \u201cA part of me felt like I still needed to protect him,\u201d he says. During the Dr. Phil episode, Tuiasosopo stated, \u201cI did all I could to help this person become a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost impossible to believe that the producers would let Tuiasosopo get away with this if he didn\u2019t identify as a trans woman. Indeed, the producers may be doing Tuiassopo a disservice by not getting him to confront what are almost certainly various mental illnesses. That would include the possibility of body dysmorphic disorder. If treatment could help Tuiasosopo, the documentary gives him no incentive to seek it. By indulging Tuiasosopo, the producers are enabling his delusions.<\/p>\n<p>But if the producers had raised any of these issues, they would have incurred the wrath of transgender activists. Activists would smear the documentary as reinforcing the \u201cprejudice\u201d that trans men and women are mentally ill. They would accuse the producers of portraying all transgender people as narcissists and sociopaths. Charges of transphobia would fly fast and furious.<\/p>\n<p>Better to avoid that and instead focus on Tuiasosopo\u2019s amazing journey. Maclain Way, one of the creators of \u201cUntold,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.erienewsnow.com\/story\/47099168\/how-the-team-behind-netflixs-untold-reframed-the-manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax\">told<\/a> CNN, \u201cWe reached out to Naya and just had a fascinating conversation with her \u2026 she ran us through just a remarkable journey that she\u2019s been on, a journey of self-discovery and self-identity and how she identifies as a trans woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In effect, the producers give Tuiasosopo a chance to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the public, and he takes full advantage. He comes off as friendly and sympathetic. He blames his upbringing for forcing him to be what he didn\u2019t want to be. That, he claims, led him to seek ways to escape such as creating a fake online profile.<\/p>\n<p>By letting Tuiasosopo go unchallenged, the producers do the public a disservice. Since they want to portray Tuiasosopo as a confused individual, they can\u2019t give warnings about how dangerous catfish can be. They give no examples of catfish who scam their victims out of money and, in some instances, even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intouchweekly.com\/posts\/catfish-murders-158410\/\">murder<\/a> them. The documentary lists no resources on how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ageuk.org.uk\/information-advice\/money-legal\/scams-fraud\/how-to-spot-a-catfish\/\">know<\/a> if you are being catfished or on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Support-group-for-Catfish-victims-304588083698821\/\">support groups<\/a> for victims.<\/p>\n<p>When the press discovered the hoax, it questioned how Te\u2019o, who was only 18 when Tuiasosopo began catfishing him, could be so na\u00efve. The media speculated that Te\u2019o had created the phony girlfriend and her death to boost his chances of winning the Heisman Trophy. (Johnny Manziel ended up winning it that year.) <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WMiFuy4YlIg?t=131\">mocked<\/a> Te\u2019o as an idiot. Te\u2019o was sure to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft, but the controversy caused him to slip into the second round. The average four-year contract for a 2013 first-round pick was $11.1 million. For a second-round pick, it was $4.3 million. Manti spent the first three years of his NFL career suffering from severe anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>The conclusion of the documentary shows Tuiasosopo, who is Polynesian, getting in touch with his cultural roots. He dons a headdress and a grass skirt and performs a hula dance. So Tuiasosopo is not only a trans woman, he is a multicultural trans woman. His rehabilitation is complete.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Hogberg is a writer living in Washington, D.C. He is author of the book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Medicares-Victims-Governments-Patients-Physicians\/dp\/0692415327%E2%80%9C\">Medicare&#8217;s Victims: How the U.S. Government&#8217;s Largest Health Care Program Harms Patients and Impairs Physicians.<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that the entertainment industry is completely in the tank for the transgender movement, but a recent episode of the Netflix documentary series \u201cUntold\u201d titled, \u201cThe Girlfriend Who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1622470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1622470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1622470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1622470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1622470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1622470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1622470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}