Diane O’Meara: Woman in Manti Te’o Fake Girlfriend Photos Speaks Out

The woman who saw her pictures being used to portray Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, has finally come forward and spoken out about the hoax that has shocked the sports world. Needless to say, she is not very happy.

Diane O’Meara, a 23-year-old marketing executive in Los Angeles, is the woman who had her photos stolen to serve as the face of the fake Kekua. She claims that the photos were used without her consent and she had no knowledge that the hoax was being planned or executed.

According to O’Meara, the person behind the hoax, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, reached out to her on January 16 to confess his part in the hoax and apologize for using her photos. O’Meara and Tuiasosopo went to high school together, but she alleges that they were never close. These pictures fueled a Twitter account that led to the online romance beween Te’o and Kekua.

O’Meara spoke on NBC’s “Today” show and gave her first public comments about the hoax.

“I don’t think there’s anything he could say to me that would fix this,” said O’Meara, who claims she has never had contact with Te’o, via CBSSports.com. O’Meara adds that Tuiasosopo “has literally been stalking my Facebook and stealing my photos.”

Tuiasosopo is looking more and more guilty as the details emerge and he has allegedly told everyone who was duped that he was the man behind this twisted scheme. He has yet to publicly speak out on the scandal, but his family had indicated he would come forward to speak sometime this week.

It will be interesting to see how Tuiasosopo can defend his horrifying actions that led to this major hoax which could cost a young man millions of marketing dollars and draft slots.