Eli Manning is facing some criticism for the media advice that he’s giving to his nephew, Arch Manning.
Arch Manning faced a lot of blowback for his joke about an AI video of Texas coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe, after the Longhorns’ win over Ohio State. Arch Manning referenced the video while speaking to reporters and ultimately apologized.
“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video. There is nothing funny about it,” he wrote. “It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that.”
“I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments,” he continued. “I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.”
Holly Rowe accepted his apology.
“Thank you Arch. I appreciate our conversation about this — which will remain private,” Rowe wrote on her own Instagram Story. “Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”
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Eli Manning warned his nephew, Arch Manning, that he has to be careful with the media.
“My advice is football stuff. He’ll have to figure out the media on his own. A lot of it is just growing pains. You feel like [the media’s] your pal, you relax with them a little bit, you try to be funny, and then they can take it and run,” Eli Manning said to Front Office Sports.
But now, Eli Manning is facing backlash.
Eli Manning criticized for his advice to Arch Manning
The legendary NFL quarterback is being criticized for his own take on the situation.
“You can do that actually. The problem was that the joke was hitting a woman! I also love pretending to not understand things,” one fan wrote.
“I still don’t quite get the “funny” part of that whole situation,” another fan wrote.
“Well, thinking slapping a woman is funny is the problem,” one fan added.
“This ain’t it Eli….” another fan wrote.
“This is Holly Rowe’s coworker,” another fan shared.
Ultimately, Arch Manning hopefully learned his lesson, but it’s clear that everyone is still pretty on edge about the situation.
