On Tuesday, Texas starting quarterback Arch Manning issued a public apology to ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, one day after he made comments during a press conference in Austin. When asked if he’d seen any social media edits over the weekend celebrating Texas’s win over Ohio State, Manning responded by making light of an AI-generated edit in which Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian struck Rowe during a postgame interview.
“I’ve seen a few AI edits and stuff, but that’s about it,” Manning said. “I saw an AI edit of Sark’s interview. Have y’all seen that one? That’s a good one, of him slapping Holly Rowe? It’s hilarious.”
In actuality, Sarkisian gave Rowe a quick postgame statement, not allowing time for a full interview, before leaving to celebrate with the team. He was also unavailable for an interview at halftime after “waiting for a long time” and having to go, according to fellow ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge during Saturday’s broadcast.
Manning faced backlash after his comments on Monday, leading to Tuesday’s apology. In his statement, the fourth-year quarterback wrote: “There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say that I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people.”
Reached by Front Office Sports, ESPN declined to comment. Rowe posted a response via her Instagram account, where she stated that she and Manning had a conversation, and she forgave him.
“Thank you, Arch,” Rowe said. “I appreciate our conversation about this– which will remain private. Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”
Reporter Evan Veith of InsideTexas, who asked the question and posted the interaction on X, also received backlash for describing Manning’s answer as “gold” and issued his own apology via X on Tuesday as well; in part saying “Captioning Manning’s response with “gold” trivialized an AI video depicting violence against a colleague, and that is a mistake I deeply regret.”
Manning, a junior, helped lead the Longhorns to a 20-point comeback in their 24-23 win over No. 6 Ohio State last weekend. Texas rose to No. 1 in the AP Poll and will play this Saturday at home against UTSA at 8 p.m. ET.
