Manti Teo’s surreal story has half the planet hooked, thanks to the Netflix series they recently released. It’s called “the girlfriend that didn’t exist” and about the disturbing experience of an American soccer player a few years ago. If you’re wondering how much Manti earned with Netflix in the last year… Here we tell you!
There are many doubts surrounding the player’s participation in the Netflix documentary. Does he agree with everything that is being published? Is the story of the girlfriend he presented to the world, who never really existed, totally real? How did that scandal affect his career?
There are many answers to all this, and we tell you about them here so you can be aware of the reality behind one of the most successful Netflix series in recent months.
What’s the real story behind Netflix’s latest documentary?
It’s important to start at the beginning. Manti Te’o is a 31-year-old Samoan-Hawaiian soccer linebacker from Laie, Hawaii. He became popular because he played college soccer at Notre Dame and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
But a year before, Manti told the media one day after a game that he was going through a rough patch because his grandmother and girlfriend had passed away simultaneously from cancer. Specifically, his partner had been in a car accident, had been diagnosed with leukemia in the aftermath, and had been unable to overcome the disease.
But there was something behind the story that made certain media outlets suspicious, and they began to investigate until they concluded that the player’s girlfriend, who called herself Lennay Kekua, was not only not dead but did not even exist.
The player reacted badly, first not wanting to make statements to end up being discovered the sad reality: his relationship with his girlfriend had always been online, with phone calls, and they had never seen each other in person. She was the one who had told him that she was in the hospital, that she had little time left to live, and also that she would prefer that Manti did not go to the funeral when the time came.
The day Manti Teo’s truth was discovered
Now we will tell you how much Manti earned with Netflix after the story’s reality, but first, you should know that the press discovered that he had been a victim of the lie and was not part of it.
The one who had pretended to be his girlfriend was Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. A former colleague of Manti Teo’s who, he explained after the fact, had been in love with him for a long time. Being able to contact them through social media, she pretended to be a woman named Lennay Kekua to end up winning the soccer player’s heart, having a smooth relationship in which they talked every day.
Ronaiah ended up feeling guilty, so he thought that faking the death of the player’s beloved was the best option to keep it evolving. The player constantly asked to meet in person, and there was no other choice but a sudden death to end everything without suspicion.
And then… How much has Manti earned with the Netflix documentary?
You might think that the Netflix documentary has brought a huge financial benefit to the soccer player, but nothing is what it seems.
At first, Manti Teo was completely blessed in his soccer career. Not only because he was a promising young Heisman Trophy candidate. But his dramatic personal story, with his deceased grandmother and girlfriend to whom he dedicated the entire season, had made the public love and admired him.
When the truth came out, Manti Teo went from being a young up-and-comer who looked like she would become a star to hitting rock bottom. In 2013, when he was supposed to go one of the top picks in the Draft, he went sixth, and only smaller teams were interested in him.
The financial and personal losses were huge, as the world thought he had made up his girlfriend’s story to curry favor with the public, which was cruel.
Fortunately, the truth came out, and little by little, it began to be understood that he had been the main victim. Although the damage, especially to his career, was irreparable. Today everything is much better, and Manti earns about $132,000 a year with the Chicago Bears.
Knowing how much Manti earns from Netflix is relatively difficult. That’s because it is still necessary to know how successful the documentary is after its release. He probably has profited from it, but what is certain is that all his losses for almost ten years will have to be considered to know if he finally benefited from this situation. We bet he didn’t, and suffering such a surreal situation must be very hard.
For years I have studied American finance regulations. All the information in this blog is sourced from official or contrasted sources from reliable sites.
Salesforce Certified SALES & SERVICE Cloud Consultant in February 2020, Salesforce Certified Administrator (ADM-201), and Master degree in “Business Analytics & Big Data Strategy” with more than 13 years of experience in IT consulting.