these are pics from Legally Blonde

Did you guys see the crazy ranting sorority e-mail? Of course you did. The background is that a sorority sister was chastising her fellow sisters for not sucking up enough to guys in the fraternity they were supposed to be hanging out with. She really lit into them and it was hilarious. The email, which is full of some awful yet creative putdowns (“cunt punt!!”) also makes sorority women look like crazy nasty bitches. I’m sure there are a lot of sorority ladies who cringed when they saw all the negative publicity that email was getting, particularly for that one sorority the e-mail originated from, Delta Gamma. Well Delta Gamma has issued a response. They say the young woman responsible for that email has resigned and that the email was unacceptable, basically. Other sites have named the email author and they have her photo. They also have some of the equally cringe-worthy and very offensive tweets she put out (before she deleted her Twitter.) This chick is an outrageous piece of work.

In her insanely angry, expletive riddled missive [The sorority sister] threatened to “c**t punt” her entire sorority chapter and berated members for “‘LITERALLY being so f***ing AWKWARD and so f***ing BORING” when interacting with a fraternity during Greek Week.

Kicking off her rant with the understated warning, “tie yourself down to whatever chair you’re sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough f***ing ride”

[The sorority sister] then went on to insult people of various different….

Ethnic groups:

“One of the perks of going to class ugly is that the Mexicans working along the sidewalk don’t try to talk to me #fug4thewin #nottryinghard” she mused at one point.

“I like my men like I liked my karate movies. . . vaguely Asian but white enough that I can understand what they’re saying,” she shared later.

Sexual orientations:

“Why am I not surprised that the girl w/ a pink mohawk and cargo pants is talking about LGBT rights when it doesn’t even apply to this class?”

And everyone’s favorite stalwart easy to offend topic, religion.

“You know you go to Maryland when the guy next to you at the gym is wearing a yammaca.”

In the true spirit of sisterly solidarity, [The sorority sister] warned against supporting rival teams, vowing, “I WILL F*****G ASSAULT YOU” if caught—adding, “If you have done ANYTHING I’ve mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you’re unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER.”

Signing off from her motivational message with, “For those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize, but I really don’t give a f**k.”

It is not known who leaked the email to the press but it rapidly went viral after the website Jezebel posted it, and the backlash and ridicule has been considerable.

[The sorority sister] was also forced to delete her Twitter account after Jezebel posted numerous screenshots of varying degrees of offensive tweets she had posted poking fun of people from different races, ages, body types and sexual orientations.

In their statement, Delta Gamma acknowledged the email was not intended for public consumption, “This is a regrettable action by a college junior – a personal email that is now on view for a global audience.”

But that, “no matter who released it to the pubic or how it reached such a mass audience, the email content should not reflect on any sorority woman in general or any fraternal organization at large.”

[From OK! Magazine]

Radar reports that she was forced out, and they have a source who says that despite the tone and bossiness of the letter she wasn’t a president of the chapter and that “she wasn’t really in charge of anything even though she made it seem like she was in that email.”

This is going to haunt this chick for decades. She may not be able to get jobs because of this, and rightfully so. It’s not just one horrible awful email, it sounds like she was being nasty and bigoted on the internet for quite a while before her latest rant went viral.

Update! I’m so sorry for the Michael Shannon video that was embedded in this post. I didn’t realize it was auto-play! Here’s a link to it as I don’t want it to get anyone in trouble at work. He’s such a good actor, and that email is so offensive, that I couldn’t even watch the whole thing. Warning: the link has very NSFW language.

These are Legally Blonde pics. Credit: Fox News for using them. There are photos of the chick all over. I don’t know why I feel weird about posting her pic or naming her. Given what an awful person she is, I shouldn’t care.

Yesterday I was having lunch in a sports bar where the golf channel was on. I don’t normally watch golf is what I’m saying, and I noticed that Tiger Woods had won something, he was number one in the world again, and everyone was talking about him. It turns out that he’d won the Arnold Palmer Invitational yesterday and regained his number one title, snatching it away (temporarily probably) from beloved Irish golfer Rory McIlroy. (My uncle, a big golf fan, was just telling me how awesome and down to earth Rory is compared to Tiger too.)

So what does Tiger do now that he’s on top is and is earning back the support of the press and the fans? He posts a gloating message on Facebook. To be fair, Tiger’s sponsor Nike put this message on Facebook not Tiger specifically, but you can bet that if he didn’t come up with the message himself he at least co-signed it. It’s attributed to him. After all, this dude just posted some glamour shots with his new girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn, right after reconciliation talks failed with his ex wife. Tiger is a gloating gloater and he’ll tell you about his success on and off the green.

It’s been three and a half years since Tiger’s amazing scandal, the scandal to end all scandals. He probably feels as if he’s been through hell and back in order to regain the multi-millions and adoration he once took for granted. My question is, has he earned this moment of gloating or should he and Nike STFU? This just makes me dislike Nike.

Maybe it’s a dude thing, maybe bragging is how they do it, especially in sports, and I don’t get it. To me it just looks arrogant. He could have sat back and enjoyed his success but instead he’s all “SEE?!!” We see Tiger, he hasn’t changed he’s just able to play golf again. The hookers and party girls are waiting in the wings again, rinse and repeat. Winning doesn’t “take care” of some things, it doesn’t bring his reputation back, it just makes the money and access flow again, and he’s going to have to work even harder to resist old patterns.

Oh and Lindsey Vonn tweeted this with 13 exclamation points. Lucky 13?

Number 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!

— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) March 25, 2013

Golf candids credit: WENN. Other photos via Facebook

I covered the Tiger Woods scandal extensively, and I’m hard pressed to remember how many women came out of the woodwork with detailed stories about shagging him. I remembered it as just over a dozen, but I checked and there were at least 15-16 willing to come out publicly, with varying stories of period sex, threesomes, and text message booty calls. That suggests that you could easily double that number to imagine how many were behind the scenes, like bedbugs or roaches where you only see a few out of the colony. Many of these were working women, and you could argue that prostitutes would be more likely to cash in, but surely just as many would be afraid to come out and reveal their profession. Not only was Tiger paying for it, he was also sleeping with whomever was around. He seduced two of his neighbors’ college-aged girlfriends (that we know of).

It was sick and twisted, and you have to question any woman’s sanity to enter into a relationship with that man after all that came out about him. Professional skiier Lindsey Vonn surely thinks he’s “changed” though, and I would bet she sees his bad boy past as some kind of turn-on. As we know, these two released some very cheesy “couples portraits” earlier this week, along with separate statements hilariously asking for “privacy.” They’ve been together probably six months – tops. Now comes news from US Weekly that Tiger has confessed everything to Lindsey and that she totally understands! It’s hilarious. Oh and for those of you who might not read further at this point – go check out The Sun to see a new photo of Lindsey posing as Sharon Stone in her famous Basic Instinct scene before she opens her legs. So classy. Here’s more:

“They’re a really happy couple — not living together yet,” a source explains to Us Weekly of the pair, who were first linked romantically late last fall, although gold medalist Vonn (then in the midst of finalizing her divorce from husband Thomas Vonn) initially took pains to deny anything romantic.

Now that they’re sharing their love with the world — Woods announced they’ve “become very close and dating,” and Vonn gushed “it makes me very happy” — many are wondering the obvious: Did they have “the conversation” about Woods’ infamous history?

“He confessed everything in his past to her and stuff – they’re really into each other,” the source tells Us. The number-one ranked golfer’s romantic and sexual past is, of course, a lot more public than most people’s: Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2009, Woods got into a car crash outside his Florida home after wife of six years Elin Nordegren learned of his affair with nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel. Over the next few months, over a dozen other women came out of the woodwork revealing flings with Woods, including cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, who shared an infamous voicemail from a panicked Woods exclusively with Us Weeky.

[From US Weekly]

I doubt he confessed “everything.” Given his statements to the press, I would assume he focused on why he did what he did, and not what he did exactly. Those details are crazy, and Lindsey is probably so dickmatized she doesn’t want to hear about it anyway. “He’s changed, he’s a new man with me!”

In that Sun article I linked to earlier, the one where Lindsey Vonn is dressed up like a budget Sharon Stone with amateurish Photoshop, (I can’t tell if it’s an actual photo or just pure Photoshop, but they claim it’s real), they include an old quote of Lindsey’s that’s really telling. Before she hooked up with Tiger, after his scandal, she said in an interview “There’s something you don’t know about me. Tiger, you’re like my idol, and I too have a sex problem.” Nasty.

Some of you have speculated that this relationship is a publicity set-up so that each of these athletes will appear more desirable to sponsors. There’s that aspect of it, I mean they’re wearing branded clothing in these photos, but I think it’s for real.

Hey, you know how poor, pitiful, overworked, exhausted Duchess Kate took a grueling eight-hour flight to Mustique last week so that she and Prince William could enjoy a fancy vacation? True story. Kate has literally made three two public appearances in the past three months, which means that she was sorely overdue for yet another vacation. Well, while on vacation in Mustique, some photographer got some snaps of the pregnant duchess in a bikini. The photos have been sold to Chi Magazine, one of the European tabloids that ran Kate’s naked-vacation photos last year. And the palace is super-pissed!

Another royal photo flap is brewing.

This times it’s over pictures of a pregnant Kate in a bikini that are set to be published.

The Duchess of Cambridge was vacationing on the beach with husband Prince William on the private island of Mustique last week when the long-lens shots were taken.

“We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas,” a spokesman for the couple at St. James’s Palace tells PEOPLE. “This is a clear breach of the couple’s right to privacy.”

The photos are expected to be published in Chi magazine this week – six months after the publication printed photos of Kate, 31, sunbathing topless while the couple were on their tour of South East Asia.

[From People]

A few questions…

*Is it still considered a “private” vacation when the British taxpayers are paying for some or all of it? We don’t know who is paying for what, there is only the assumption that the Middleton family picked up the tab. And even then, taxpayers are paying for Kate and William’s security.

*Is this some kind of karmic retribution for being lazy? When everyone saw Kate’s nips last year, that was also because they were on vacation in France (after they lied about previous commitments to get out of doing appearances at the Special Olympics). And now this! Another “inappropriate photo op” involving nudity… while on vacation.

*Why is the “if she doesn’t want people to see her bits and pieces, she should her clothes on” argument never made? Is it because that argument is deemed “victim-blaming”? I don’t think it is, especially in this case. She was wearing a bikini on a beach!

*Why does St. James Palace get to dictate the terms of when is and is not “private” and “public” time with these two?

*Who is William going to scream at this time? Do you think we’ll get some reports in which “sources” describe how William is in the midst of yet another hissy fit? Alternate question: does Kate even care? Even with last year’s scandal, it seemed like she was the one who was more blasé about it, and I bet it’s the same situation now – William is the one freaking out and Kate doesn’t care.

*Why are photos of Kate in a bikini some big deal at this point? We’ve seen her in a bikini many times while she was on vacation over the years. We’ve seen her out of her bikini too.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Chi.

Just when the media storm on the news of Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te’o's fake dead girlfriend has died down, he’s done a sit-down interview. But wait – there’s more! Manti’s interview with Katie Couric airs today, and multiple outlets have advance details for us. I’m sure we’ll hear more about it once it finally airs, but fingers crossed that the major points have already been released to the press.

If you’re unfamiliar with this story, you can go here and here for a recap. At this point I’ll assume everyone has the basic details.

Previously, Manti told ESPN (in an interview which was not video recorded), that he was the victim of an elaborate internet hoax. He gave a timeline of the deception which was consistent with Notre Dame’s press statements, and with details I found convincing. I thought it was possible that Manti lied about some aspects of his relationship with this phantom online woman, but that he wasn’t in on the hoax from the get-go. In his Katie Couric interview, Manti attempts to explain why he continued to talk about his girlfriend’s death to the press even when he knew, by his own timeline, that he had been duped. He said basically that he answered questions in the only way he knew how, by clinging to the reality he once knew. Manti’s parents also joined him for parts of the interview.

Also, outlets have found solid evidence to support Manti’s claim that he was duped. Here’s more, from various sources:

On why he continued to lie about the woman after he knew he was duped
Pressed by Couric to admit that he was in on the deception, Te’o said he was convinced the woman he knew as Lennay Kekua died in September. Te’o claims he never met Kekua in person but developed a relationship with her through phone calls and electronic messages.

“Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12.”

“Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she’s alive and then I’m going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?”

Te’o made at least three references to his girlfriend in news media interviews after Dec. 6. – From NY Times

---

NY Daily News finds receipt for flowers Manti sent when Kekua “died”
Wednesday, the New York Daily News published a story saying it obtained a receipt of flowers Te’o sent Sept.12, the day he believed Kekua had died, from 1-800-FLOWERS.com. It listed “Kainoa Kekua” as the recipient of “36 stems of premium white roses” sent by Te’o with a South Bend, Ind., address.

The message, the newspaper reported, was: “My dearest Lennay, although our time together was brief, I feel like I’ve known you all of my life. Till we meet again. I love you, Manti.”

Phone records support Manti’s claims
Also Wednesday, ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap said he was given documents by a person close to Manti Te’o saying they were Te’o's AT&T phone records from May 11 to Sept. 12 of last year, a span that covers the time Te’o said he believed Kekua to be in a hospital in Los Angeles while recovering from a car accident and being treated for cancer…

ESPN reported the phone records show Te’o made and received more than 1,000 calls totaling more than 500 hours from the same number in the 661 area code, which covers Lancaster, a part of Los Angeles County.

Woman whose identity was stolen for the hoax goes public
Diane O’Meara told NBC’s Today that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake Kekua.

“I’ve never met Manti Te’o in my entire life. I’ve never spoke with him. I’ve never exchanged words with him,” O’Meara said Tuesday.

The 23-year-old marketing executive went to high school in California with Tuiasosopo, but she says they’re not close. Tuiasosopo called to apologize the day Deadspin broke the story, she said. – From USA Today

Manti “doesn’t know” whether his story bolstered his Heisman votes
“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Te’o replied.

He was more certain, however, when Couric pressed him by pointing out that it had become “sort of a legend that you had endured this hardship and gone on to play your team and your school to victory… Did you feel like, wow, I’m getting a lot of attention for this?”

Te’o denied reveling in the attention.

“I think for me the only thing I basked in was that I had an impact on people, that people turned to me and for inspiration and I think that was the only thing I focused on. You know my story I felt was a guy who in times of hardship and in times of trial really held strong to his faith, held strong to his family and I felt that that was my story,” said Te’o, who is a Mormon. – From ABC News

I believe this guy was fooled. The phone records and receipt for the flowers helped convince me. Maybe this will be a lesson to people to be smarter about online relationships. Sometimes people are just lonely and want to believe. I’m still really curious about the woman who was talking to Te’o on the phone. I doubt she’ll ever go public. She must have had deep feelings for him if she would talk to him for hours on the phone every night. Was she some married middle aged lady? I’d love to know. Maybe that’s why this story hasn’t died out, it’s kind of fascinating.

Update: Supposedly Manti was talking to this Ronaiah guy, not an unnamed woman (I read in an earlier story that it was a female cousin of Ronaiah’s) and Ronaiah had disguised his voice to sound feminine. This story is INSANE.

Here’s a clip of Manti’s interview with Katie Couric.

When I first glanced at this ESPN story we’re discussing below, in which Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o was interviewed by ESPN, I assumed it was a sit-down interview on camera and that we would soon be putting this story to rest. (Go here and here for a recap.) But no! Manti was interviewed off-camera, and he has yet to do a video interview. He’s still planning on baring his soul on camera, though, and will reportedly talk to Katie Couric. This complicated story will not die quietly, that’s for sure.

Before we quote ESPN here’s a quick primer. Te’o claimed he lost his girlfriend to leukemia last September. The sports blog Deadspin investigated and found that the girlfriend never existed and that Twitter accounts under her name were run by a guy named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. A source told Deadspin that Ronaiah and Manti were “family friends” and suggested Manti was involved. In a statement to the press, Manti denied being in on the hoax and claimed he was the victim of an elaborate internet scam. Notre Dame backed his version of the story.

I’m going to try and do justice to the latest developments, but I should say first that I’m starting to buy the version of events that Manti’s people are putting out there. I believe it’s possible that Manti got catfished by an acquaintance who scammed him into falling for a fake woman online. Manti could have embellished details of the relationship to the press so as not to sound like an idiot who fell in love with a woman sight unseen. And he could have overstated his connection to the woman in order to play up her “death” for sympathy. It’s possible he wasn’t in on the whole thing. Even if he were complicit in it, as some of you have commented this isn’t a huge scandal compared to what we’ve seen from other sports stars. It has blown up like one, but in the scheme of things this is minor. He wasn’t cheating the game, running an illegal gambling scheme or abusing anyone.

Here’s what Manti told ESPN in this latest interview, with more at the source.

Te’o spoke at the IMG Training Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he is preparing for the NFL draft. There were no television cameras at the interview, which was recorded on audio.

The Notre Dame linebacker said he did not make up anything to help his Heisman Trophy candidacy. Te’o finished second to Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.

“When (people) hear the facts, they’ll know,” he said. “They’ll know that there is no way that I could be part of this.”

In the interview, Te’o also said:

He lied to his father about having met Kekua, prompting his father to tell reporters that Te’o and Kekua had met. Several media stories indicated that Te’o and Kekua had met. Te’o insisted they never did.

He tried to speak with Kekua via Skype and FaceTime on several occasions, but the person at the other end of the line was in what he called a “black box” and wasn’t seen.

He planned to meet Kekua in person several times, including in Los Angeles and Hawaii, but on each occasion she called off the meeting or sent others in her place.

The first time he met Tuiasosopo was in Los Angeles. Notre Dame beat USC there on Nov. 24.

A group of people connected to Tuiasosopo showed up at the team hotel, after curfew, for the Discover BCS National Championship Game in Miami. [Ed note: this was on January 7, 2013, after Te'o was told Kekua died. "She" had contacted him prior to this, but still after her "death," on December 6, 2012] Te’o said he knew they were at the hotel because the group took photos in the hotel lobby. Someone in the group called Te’o, saying they were waiting for Kekua to join them in the lobby and asking if she was with him. Te’o then hung up. Te’o said it did not affect his play in the game, where Notre Dame lost to Alabama 42-14.

Te’o was never asked for money during the plot, but Kekua once requested his checking account number in order to send him money. Te’o did not provide his account number.

A South Bend Tribune report described Te’o and Kekua touching hands during an in-person meeting in 2009 at Stanford, but Te’o said that never happened and he didn’t know Kekua until 2010.

“I’d never told anybody that I’ve touched her hand,” he said.

Te’o said he altered his stories so his family and others would think he did met Kekua in person.

“That goes back to what I did with my dad,” Te’o said. “I knew that — I even knew, that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn’t meet, and that alone — people find out that this girl who died, I was so invested in, I didn’t meet her, as well. So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away, so that people wouldn’t think that I was some crazy dude…”

Te’o talked often about a “spiritual connection” between him and Kekua. Te’o discussed a ritual where he and Kekua exchanged scripture readings. Soon, his father and mother joined in. They used the SOAP method of study, which stands for scripture, observation, application, and prayer…

In late June or early July, Te’o said Kekua and her brother told him she had leukemia.

On Sept. 12, his mother and father called Te’o to tell him his grandmother had died. He said Kekua called him after his grandmother’s death.

“I was angry. I didn’t want to be bothered,” he said. “So Lennay was just trying to be there for me. I just, I just — I just wanted my own space. We got in an argument. She was saying, ‘You know, I’m trying to be here for you.’ I didn’t want to be bothered. I wanted to be left alone. I just wanted to be by myself.

“Last thing she told me was ‘Just know I love you.’ ”

Later that day, Te’o was told Kekua had died from leukemia. He said he was in the Notre Dame locker room when he got
the call.

[From ESPN]

ESPN has also posted a transcript featuring highlights from the interview, in Manti’s own words, if you’re interested.

That story is insane, right? Most people would have questioned the story the first or second time the person refused to meet them or skype with them, but maybe this guy wanted to believe. Maybe he’s never encountered a scam artist and believs people are inherently good. This person bared her soul to him and he felt like he knew her.

As I mentioned, I’m starting to believe him! That could be due to ESPN’s very convincing story and the way they framed Manti’s comments. It would be easier for me to judge this guy’s sincerity if we could see his interview. He’ll have a chance for that soon enough.

ESPN has related story from a source close to Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who claims that he admitted to her that he conspired to scam Manti Te’o. Ronaiah’s female cousin would talk to Manti on the phone for hours every night, posing to be the fake woman. What’s more is that Ronaiah has allegedly victimized other people online. The details in this story add up with previous versions we’ve heard.

TMZ claims that Manti had another, real girlfriend, in the wake of his fake girlfriend’s “death.”

After I wrote all that, I found this story in which Ronaiah Tuiasosopo’s uncle claims that Ronaiah may go public with his side. There’s probably a ton of pressure on this guy to come clean about his involvement and clear Manti’s name.

Header photo credit: Ryan Jones, ESPN interviews.

Whenever we have a sports crossover story, I call my dad to get his take. My dad watches ESPN like I watch E!, and my main question is always “did you know who this guy was before this scandal?” In the case of Notre Dame defensive linebacker Manti Te’o, my dad said that he’d definitely heard about him before this latest news and that Te’o was a big name in college football. Te’o is a great linebacker, in fact he’s the “most decorated collegiate football player of all time.” Part of Te’o's lore was a story he told the press about how his girlfriend died of leukemia in September of last year, on the same day he lost his grandmother. Te’o's sad personal history helped bolster his image, and he finished second in votes for the prestigious Heisman trophy last year, the highest award in college football. (Incidentally it’s rare for a defensive player to earn a Heisman, and Te’o earned more Heisman votes than any defensive player to date.)

Deadspin ran an extensive investigative piece yesterday exposing the fact that Manti T’eo’s girlfriend was a hoax. The woman he claimed had died had never existed, and her photos were those of another woman, which were lifted from Facebook without her consent. It was all the work of a guy named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who was a buddy of T’eo’s according to people who knew him. In response to this scandal, Te’o claimed that he was the victim of an elaborate Internet hoax, which didn’t jibe with his claims that he had sent flowers to his late girlfriend’s funeral, and that he hoped to see her family “again” after a recent game victory. Many people, including my dad, believe that Te’o was in on the whole thing.

I’m going to quote the NY Daily News here because they do a good job of really summing up this story and the major points. (You can read the story on Deadspin too.) It’s complicated, and the jist is that either Manti Te’o is a naive victim and fell in love with a woman without ever meeting her, or he orchestrated a con in order to seem more sympathetic in the eyes of the press. For their part, Notre Dame did an investigation and claims they buy his story. They’re backing him. Also, if you’d like a breakdown of the major points in this case, USA Today has a brief article that explains it well.

The late squeeze of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o is not dead and was never his girlfriend. In fact, she was never anybody at all.

In a shocking report on Deadspin Wednesday, the website said the girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, never existed and that Te’o, who publicly drew inspiration from her “death” during a Heisman-caliber season, was part of the hoax.

It also claimed Kekua’s existence was perpetrated by a former California high school quarterback named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, 22.

The story quoted a source saying Te’o and Tuiasosopo are “family, or at least family friends.” It said Deadspin “spoke with friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who asserted that Ronaiah was the man behind Lennay,” maintaining her identity through a Twitter account.

An hour or so after the story posted, Notre Dame released a statement saying Te’o had been the victim of a “hoax” in which someone used the fictitious name Lennay Kekua to build an online relationship with Te’o, before conspiring with others to convince him she had died of leukemia in September.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said at a press conference Wednesday night that Te’o, 21, was the victim, that the university hired independent investigators after learning of the scheme on Dec. 26, and that those investigators had identified the perpetrators — though he did not identify them.

Manti T’eo finishes second in the Heisman Trophy voting this season.

When asked why he believes Te’o wasn’t “in on it,” Swarbrick said he is “comfortable with the consistency” of the stories Te’o told the university and the facts uncovered by the investigators.

Te’o, who Swarbrick said is expected to tell his full side of the story as early as Thursday, did not learn he had been scammed until he got a phone call the first week of December from the same number he had allegedly used to contact Lennay, according to the athletic director.

It sure was some hoax: Te’o’s father, Brian, told the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune that the pair had met in person in November 2009 after Stanford — where Kekua was enrolled — beat the Irish, 45-38.

Te’o leads Notre Dame into the BCS title game against Alabama.

Last Sept. 11, Te’o’s grandmother, Annette Santiago, 72, died. It was later reported Kekua also died.

“Painful and humiliating,” Te’o, who is expected to be selected in April’s NFL draft, said in a statement of how it felt to learn the truth. “It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother’s death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.”

[From The NY Daily News]

I don’t believe that this guy was duped. USA Today points us to this postgame video interview, after Notre Dame beat Michigan State on September 15 (supposedly 4 days after his fake girlfriend “died”) in which Te’o says he hopes to see his girlfriend’s family “again.”

It’s possible that T’eo developed an intense emotional relationship with someone online, and that he was fooled. I would have bought that story five years ago, but not today when everyone has iPads and cameras built into their laptops. People Skype and use Facetime, and somehow this guy never asked to see his “girlfriend” on camera? I’m not buying it. I’ve heard stories about this, though, and I’ve seen “Catfish.” (I mean I watched most of it, I gave up about 3/4 through when it started to drag.) There are some sick people out there who get their kicks from assuming fake identities online. Maybe he got duped, but I doubt it.

There’s a follow-up story on TMZ with more details on this story along with how Te’o allegedly found out he was victimized. (Which is partially covered in the story above, but TMZ gives bullet points.) Supposedly he was going to come clean to the press before he got scooped by Deadspin. That’s a likely story. T’eo is going to hold a press conference today, which should be interesting.

Photos via Facebook, CBS News

These are photos from the second country of Duchess Kate and Prince William’s Epic Asian Tour – they are now in Malaysia. These pics are from last night’s state dinner and from today’s tour stops, including a mosque in Kuala Lumpur. For the state dinner, Kate wore a custom Alexander McQueen gown that looks less “Malaysian” and more Bollywood to my jaded eyes. Doesn’t think look like something you would wear to a state dinner in India? The material even looks like a reworked sari. Then for today’s full day in Kuala Lumpur, Kate wore a white silk chiffon Beulah London dress, once again a dress with a full skirt and lots of buttons. The dress seems rather dated to me – like, it’s something a 40-something woman would have worn to her quickie wedding at City Hall. In 1985. Kate also had a lovely head scarf which she wore for the trip to the mosque, but she did not wear outside of the mosque. You can read more about Kate’s styles and activities here, at What Kate Wore.

Meanwhile, there’s a huge scandal brewing. It seems that Duchess Kate was photographed topless on her last vacation with Prince William! Kate and Will were recently staying at a nice chateau in France, and Kate went sunbathing topless on the balcony (and the grounds) of this PRIVATE estate. Some paparazzo got photos of the sunbathing and topless swimming, and now the French magazine Closer has published the “very sensual” images (that’s how they’re described). Coming on the heels of Prince Harry’s butt crack scandal, this is rough news for the royal family, but the royal family and their people are really going HARD against the French magazine. From the BBC:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are hugely saddened over the “grotesque and unjustifiable invasion of privacy” by a magazine which published topless photos of Kate, a royal spokesman says. French publication Closer printed the pictures of the duchess, taken during their private holiday in France. The royals are now considering legal action over the case.

The BBC’s Nicholas Witchell said that they could act against the magazine, the photographer or both. He added: “They are incredulous that any magazine would have felt they had a justification in publishing these pictures. They could go to law or seek a remedy through the French court – that is a big step to take but that is clearly what is being considered now. I have rarely heard quite such a level of publicly expressed anger that I have heard today reflecting William’s feelings. He is absolutely determined to protect the privacy of his wife, he has always been very protective of her and that anger has mounted during the day.”

The photos are blurry and taken with a long lens, the BBC’s Paris bureau says. There are four pages of photos of the couple, with Kate topless in several. On the magazine’s website, it says the pictures are of the couple “like you have never seen them before. Gone are the fixed smiles and the demure dresses. On holiday Kate forgets everything.”

The Duke and Duchess, who were staying at the French chateau of the Queen’s nephew, Lord Linley, “have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner”, a spokesman for Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’s office, said.

“The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so. Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them. Officials acting on behalf of their Royal Highnesses are consulting with lawyers to consider what options may be available to the Duke and Duchess.”

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The view from Downing Street is that they are entitled to their privacy.”

The royal couple were told about the magazine’s plan to publish the photos during breakfast in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on their tour of South East Asia. They have now left the city and travelled to Sabah in north Borneo, where they are due to visit a rainforest.

It has emerged that British newspapers were offered photographs last week but turned them down. BBC News reported that Lloyd Embley, editor of Mirror and Sunday Mirror, said they were offered a set of pictures of the duchess in her bikini a week ago but, as with the pictures of Prince Harry, they took the decision not to publish them. In both cases they believed it would be a clear breach of the editors’ code of practice involving breach of privacy.

BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said royal officials “believe a “red line” has been crossed. The couple cannot believe someone would take such photos and publish them.

“The publication of the photographs will be a bitter blow to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince William witnessed the complex relationship his mother, Diana, had with the media. He believes the actions of the paparazzi in Paris contributed to her death. He wants to shield his wife from the worst excesses of reporters and photographers in full flight.”

[From BBC]

Obviously, this IS a terrible breach of privacy, and once again (like Harry), a breach of security. Did none of William and Kate’s security guards notice the paparazzo hanging out of a tree, snapping photos? I realize the pics were probably taken from a distance, but even so… how about a perimeter check, you know? As for everyone claiming that this is just like Diana, etc… it feels like it’s too early to use the Diana card, but maybe they’re just trying to nip (ha) this in the bud before every paparazzo feels like it’s Open Season on the duchess.

As for the possibility that Kate will be “shamed” for cavorting topless with her husband while on vacation on a private estate… please don’t. It’s fine. If you want to shame her for anything, it should be that she’s simply “on vacation” for half of any given year. Don’t even bother with the topless thing.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

One of the girls who partied with Prince Harry in Las Vegas has sold/given away her “story” to one of the UK tabloids. The young woman is named Carrie Reichert, and she was actually born in England, although I think her parents are American and she considers herself American – you can see some photos of Carrie here, at The Mirror. Carrie was partying in Vegas with some girlfriends when she chanced upon Prince Harry – sort of. Long story short, they get wasted together (with about two dozen other people) and then they made out but it doesn’t seem like the royal p went in the commoner v. Harry sounds very drunk and kind of harmless here – it’s not the best portrait of a prince, but to give him some credit, he doesn’t sound like an a—hole, you know? He just seems like a really drunk dude. You can read the full piece here, and here are some highlights from Carrie’s story:

Carrie recognized Harry right away at The Wynn: “They were walking around and I knew exactly who he was. I was born in England and I’m pretty familiar with the royal family, but I didn’t know the guys he was with. I was the only one who knew who he was. Everybody else was like, ‘Who’s that?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Prince Harry!’ It was pretty clear who he was.”

She was approached by someone in Harry’s entourage: “They said ‘Hey, would you like to party with Prince Harry?’ I’m not going to pass an opportunity to party with Prince Harry. At first you think it’s a line. People will say anything to get you to go anywhere in Vegas. There was a bunch of us, it wasn’t just me and my girlfriends, it was just random. They were just picking really pretty girls, about 10 of us.”

Hanging out in Harry’s VIP suite: “We all went up to this huge VIP high-roller suite, and went in and the music was going, alcohol was flowing. Harry was already undressed. It was just crazy. He looked actually delirious. There was a pool table and he was ­playing air guitar with pool sticks. He was screaming out, ‘Somebody get me a glove! I’m going to do a Michael Jackson impression!’ He would just randomly walk up to you and hug you. He was just really friendly and there were just really ­random naked hugs. It was funny.”

The naked girl in the photos: “I didn’t actually see them play the game but it was there and it was going on. I saw the girl, there was just a lot of hugging and maybe some kissing. Just a lot of laughing. It seemed like he was overbearing a little bit, and she was kind of shy and very timid. I didn’t catch her name as we were all drinking. She was an American girl. She was very slender, really cute and pretty, kind of shy and she also seemed really drunk. I saw her trip over a couple of times. But he was laughing and thought it was really funny. And there were pictures being taken. I didn’t take any personally.”

Harry was being encouraged by his entourage: “He was being egged on. They thought it was hilarious. It was just, ‘Oh, Harry! Go play some pool while you’re ­naked!’ and just egging him on like, ‘Go hug her’. It was happening in the living area. Where the gaming room was. They were holding each other, talking and ­kissing and stuff.” The naked girl whom Harry hugged has remained anonymous despite the pictures going global.

Harry was trying to get everyone naked: “There was billiards being played. Harry was being randomly funny, going from the billiards to the bedroom. He wasn’t the only one naked. There were girls naked. The guys were half dressed. It was not like an orgy going on, it was just sexy naked. It was like almost a game. He was trying to get everybody to get naked. That was the whole point of him being naked. Girls were getting naked, he was screaming out ‘Everybody get naked!’ Just randomly doing crazy stuff. He was pressing his body up against the window and saying ‘Look at me Vegas!’ because he’s got this huge ­window and of course you can see all of Vegas down the strip. Just pressing up against the window just like, ‘Look at me Vegas, these are the royal jewels’.”

Hanging out with Harry: “I introduced myself, and right away knew he was completely wasted, very intoxicated. I had to let him know I knew who he was, and that I was born in England and right away he was like ‘Oh my Gosh, that’s amazing! I can’t believe you’re here in Vegas, we could be related’. I have blue eyes and he was going on and on. And I was like ‘Ah! He likes me!’ He was happy-go-lucky, yeah, just going with the flow. He gave me a huge hug and I introduced myself, and yeah, the party’s going.”

Setting up the hookup: “We both walked back together, and he grabbed my hand and walked back toward his bedroom. I found my way back there with him. We were talking and we had found some similarities and some interests him and I had together. And I was interested of course. Yeah, I followed him back to his bedroom. He was fixated that we had something in common and we kept talking, I spent seven years of my childhood in England and it played a big part of my life, so we had lots to discuss. He said that he liked my eyes and was just going on and on about the military. He didn’t make too much sense. Then he grabbed my hand and we went back to his room. There was not very much talking at that time, his clothes were off. I had a bikini on. A string bikini. I had a party dress over that, and that came off. And I just had a bikini.”

The drunken fumble: “We kissed, he was naked at the time, and pretty open. It was a drunken fumble. It wasn’t romantic, just fun. He was a gentleman, but he was so wasted. The alcohol affected him. I was there for 15 to 20 minutes. We kissed for 15 to 20 minutes. I am sure somebody stumbled in as there were people going in and out of rooms all the time. We kissed again and he said ‘That was great’. He told me I was beautiful and gorgeous, which was sweet. Then we kind of nonchalantly returned to the party and kept drinking. We went back into the living area and I assumed people knew but ­everyone acted like nothing happened. A little bit after some girls passed out on seats, and I felt I needed to go back to my room so I did.”

Carrie doesn’t get why it’s a big deal: “I don’t understand what the big deal was. I understand he is royalty and his family looks on it harshly and as a royal you have to conduct yourself a certain way, but he was having fun. He should not be ashamed of the pictures. I feel sad he has to suffer people’s opinions but it will pass. It’s give-and-take when you go to Vegas, but unlike the saying, not ­everything you do stays in Vegas.”

[From The Mirror]

It’s weird that Harry heard that Carrie was born in England and his first thought was, “OMG, we could be related,” right? Blame it on the alcohol, I suppose, although I’m not sure if this is a portrait of a man who was merely drunk. I’m not saying it’s cocaine… but there could have been another substance involved. It also sounds like Carrie was really aiming to hook up with Harry. Which… I ain’t mad. I would have done the same thing. First, I would have just gone up to his suite and partied with him – just because that’s a great story to have, “The Time I Partied With Prince Harry In Las Vegas”. But then when you get in the high roller suite and he’s naked and drunk… why not try to hook up, you know? Carrie knew what she was doing, I hope she got a nice paycheck for this little kiss-and-tell.

Drawing courtesy of Stuart Heritage, photos courtesy of WENN.

Apparently, Prince Harry has been summoned home after TMZ’s exclusive photos went viral last night. I heard something about Harry’s initial plans to make some kind of trip to LA too, but I guess those were canceled? So, in the wake of ROYAL JEWEL-GATE, what will be the fall-out? I don’t think this scandal could be compared to anything involving Duchess Kate or Prince William – obviously, those two are married and William is the heir. If William was photographed naked with some girls, it would rock the monarchy. But when it’s the single spare? The monarchy will likely remain un-rocked, in my opinion. Sure, it will be embarrassing and the royals will be trying to do some damage control, of course. Which has already begun…

*Us Weekly’s “source close to Harry” says: “This is a mess. This was not the type of fun he was supposed to be having. He’s in trouble. Protection officers are also in trouble because they could have controlled this.”

*But another “insider” tells Us Weekly: “He’s a lad! This is just him messing about on holiday. No one was hurt, he’s on proper vacation from his work, so he’s not breaking any rules. He’s using his own money. The photos look sleazier than they are. They were playing strip billiards.”

*WILLIAM IS NOT AMUSED. A source tells Us Weekly, “William was told about the photos this morning. He’s not impressed.”

*A family friend of Prince Charles, Alex van Straubenzee, told BBC radio’s The World at One that Harry is “a very easy target” for the press and “More than anything he is a British soldier. He has a very, very good qualification in the job he does for the Army and I think this is what people will look at.” He said the current “tittle-tattle” will blow over.

*Royal biographer Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine told The Telegraph “that the gaffe may not damage Harry’s reputation in America, and suggests that people may even find it endearing,” according to People Mag. Seward says, “It’s a bit cheeky, it’s bloody silly and he should have known better – he has been caught before. But he has a love of life. He throws caution to the wind like no one else.”

[Via Us Weekly, People and The Daily Beast]

I’m sure there will be more analysis and hand-wringing and statements issued and royal propagandists will go into overdrive. But for those of us who pay attention to Harry and the British royal family – is this really surprising? No. Harry should be in “trouble” for the photos because it was a dumb move in general, and it was dumb specifically because he and his handlers didn’t take the girls’ camera-phones away. He should also be in “trouble” because… well, he’s getting too old for this. He’s 27 years old (he’ll be 28 in a few weeks too) – the “he’s just a lad” excuse only goes so far. But overall… yeah. It’s still not going to bring down the monarchy. It’s just a funny and dumb story.

Also: this is what happens when Chelsy Davy refuses to marry him. It’s all Chelsy’s fault! If she would just marry him, he would settle down. And if you believe that, I’ll eat one of the Queen’s Corgis.

Photos courtesy of WENN.