Manti Te’o controversy: Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used car accident story on ‘The Voice’

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the friend of Manti Te’o’s seemingly behind the fake identity of Lennay Kekua, either with or without the help of Te’o, had auditioned for popular television show The Voice, according to US Weekly. While there, he told a story similar to the one he allegedly made up about Kekua.

Tuiasosopo’s is a weird story in a scenario full of them: the former high school quarterback turned musician is friends with Te’o and according to Deadspin, was the one who attained pictures used for Lennay Kekua’s Twitter profile from a high school classmate. The Deadspin profile discussed his musical career in some detail, linking to both secular and religious songs the 22-year-old had posted on Youtube.

Here’s Tuiasosopo singing something he wrote, “Saved Again”:

Deadspin also reported that Te’o had linked to a song Tuiasosopo had written on Twitter.

US Weekly reported Thursday that Tuiasosopo had told The Voice that he and his Christian band had gotten in a major car accident on their way to a youth conference, with one feared brain-dead, but that all had recovered. The story captivated NBC producers, but now seems suspect, as it bears more than a passing resemblance to other stories Tuiasosopo has told: Kekua had also supposedly been in a car accident before recovering, only to die of leukemia. Deadspin also reported that Tuiasosopo had told a former high school classmate he needed a picture of her holding up a sign, saying it was for a cousin who needed support after getting into a car accident.

Tuiasosopo was reportedly eliminated from the show when none of the four judges - Shakira, Usher, Blake Shelton, and Adam Levine - thought his performance was good enough.