There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding Texas quarterback Arch Manning and the media this week, that’s for sure.
After Texas made a 23-3 comeback against Ohio State, head coach Steve Sarkisian walked away from his postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe. That awkward interaction led to people creating AI-generated videos online. Manning revealed that he saw a fake video where Sarkisian slaps Rowe.
Evan Vieth of Inside Texas referred to Manning’s comment as “gold” during Monday’s media availability.
“I asked Arch Manning if he’d seen any edits on TikTok or Twitter after the game, and his answer is gold,” Vieth wrote on X.
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After receiving endless backlash online, Vieth issued an apology for how he handled this situation.
“Yesterday, I published a tweet of Arch Manning responding to a question of mine, where he mentioned seeing an AI video of Steve Sarkisian slapping Holly Rowe,” he wrote on X. “I captioned his response as “gold.” I realized quickly that I had made a mistake and was far too hasty in publishing the video without further context and with an inappropriate caption. For that, I am deeply sorry.”
Showing respect to Holly Rowe.
In addition to apologizing to the public, Vieth paid respect to Rowe and the incredible work she’s done at ESPN.
“As a young journalist just getting started in this industry, I deeply admire the hard work, time, and dedication Holly Rowe has put in to become one of the best reporters working today. I never meant to disrespect her work, vilify Manning, or spread hatred toward anyone, but intent isn’t the same as impact, and I own that,” Vieth continued. “I sincerely apologize for how I chose to present the tweet, and I’ll be more careful going forward, especially when it comes to AI-generated content and how quickly I hit send.”
Hopefully, everyone can move on from this situation while simultaneously learning a lesson from it.
