Arch Manning apologizes to Holly Rowe after joking about fake violent AI video

Arch Manning apologized Tuesday to ESPN reporter Holly Rowe after joking about an AI-generated video that depicted Texas coach Steve Sarkisian slapping her.

The Texas quarterback’s apology came one day after he referenced the clip during a team media availability. Asked about social-media edits connected to the Longhorns’ comeback victory over Ohio State, Manning said he had seen one showing Sarkisian slapping Rowe and called it funny.

By Tuesday, Manning acknowledged that the remark had crossed a line.

“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video,” Manning wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “There is nothing funny about it.” He added that his words and actions had hurt people, apologized directly to Rowe and said he needed to be more thoughtful going forward.

Rowe responded that she and Manning had discussed the matter privately. She thanked him, accepted the apology and said they would move forward “with respect and kindness for one another.”

The controversy did not begin with an entirely fabricated event. After Texas defeated Ohio State 24-23 on Saturday, Rowe approached Sarkisian for a standard postgame interview. Sarkisian walked away while shouting Texas slogans instead of answering her questions. Earlier, ESPN had acknowledged technical problems surrounding a halftime interview with another reporter, Laura Rutledge; Texas later said those issues helped explain Sarkisian’s reaction.

The real exchange was then transformed into a fake video showing Sarkisian striking Rowe. The clip was not evidence of an assault. But its fictional violence gave the online joke a different weight from an ordinary parody of a coach’s awkward interview.

That distinction is central to what happened next. Manning did not create the video, and his comments did not make the underlying assault real. They did, however, draw fresh attention to the clip from one of college football’s most visible players. The moment was posted by Evan Vieth, the reporter who asked Manning about the online edits, with a caption describing the quarterback’s reaction as “gold.” Vieth later apologized as well, saying he had treated the AI-generated depiction too casually and needed to be more careful before posting.

The episode illustrates the problem with treating the words “AI-generated” as a complete disclaimer. A fake video can still use a real person’s face, a real workplace and a real incident as its raw material. Once circulated, it can invite commentary that affects the people depicted even when viewers understand that the footage is synthetic.

For Texas, the controversy arrives just as Manning and the Longhorns are receiving significant national attention. Manning helped lead the comeback against Ohio State, and the win placed Texas at the center of the college football conversation. That visibility made his comments more consequential than a private joke or an obscure online post.

Rowe’s acceptance of the apology closes the immediate personal dispute, but it does not erase the broader lesson. In a sports culture built around instant clips, public reactions and viral humor, athletes and reporters increasingly have to judge not only whether footage is real, but also what kind of behavior it normalizes when it is shared.