Fresh off a wild 24-23 comeback win over Ohio State, Texas quarterback Arch Manning found himself in a messy situation for all the wrong reasons. During his Monday press conference, the young star brought up a fake AI-generated video showing his head coach, Steve Sarkisian, hitting ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. Instead of dismissing the fake clip, Arch laughed out loud on camera, instantly turning a huge team victory into a media nightmare.

The whole saga began right after the game clock hit zero. While the Longhorns were celebrating their incredible fourth-quarter rally, Coach Sarkisian stopped for a mandatory postgame chat with veteran sideline reporter Holly Rowe. But instead of answering her questions, he shouted a quick “Texas fight! Hook ’em!”, did a quick “Horns Up” gesture, and hurried off toward his team. It left Rowe standing alone on live television, looking clearly frustrated.

Some of her ESPN colleagues, such as Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum, hopped onto First Take and took turns absolutely ripping Steve Sarkisian for how he treated Rowe on the field.

Then, as the internet usually does, the awkward moment turned into memes and edits. What made this situation worse was the pattern. This was not just a random internet troll acting up out of nowhere.

This was the second time in less than 48 hours that Texas football and Holly Rowe were dragged into public disrespect. First, the head coach snubbed her on live TV, and almost immediately, the internet escalated that disrespect into a violent digital edit, which was then publicly laughed at during a team press conference.

One specific video used AI technology to change the footage entirely. Instead of showing the coach walking away from the interview, the deepfake edit made it look like Sarkisian violently slapped Holly Rowe across the face. The video quickly went viral across platforms like TikTok and X.

Just about 36 hours later, a Texas reporter asked Arch Manning if he had seen any of the fun internet edits celebrating Texas’s big win.

Arch smiled and immediately brought up the fake slap video, asking the media room if they had seen it because he thought it was a ‘good one’.

“I’ve seen a few AI edits and stuff, but that’s that’s about it. I saw AI edit the Sark’s interview,” Arch Manning said. He literally laughed out loud and said, “Y’all seen that one? That’s a good one. Of him (Steve Sarkisian) slapping Holly Rowe. It’s hilarious.”

That single moment is why the young quarterback instantly came under fire. Arch isn’t just another college starter. He is a Manning, carrying a family name built on spotless public relations and camera-ready composure.

When the face of the top-ranked team in the nation voluntarily brings up a deepfake depicting violence against a female journalist and calls it “hilarious” on a live mic, it ceases to be a simple offhand joke. It turns an unforced media mistake into an immediate national backlash.

A few people in the room chuckled along, but several sports people found it offensive. The backlash hit almost instantly because making light of violence against a female reporter is a huge mistake. Critics pointed out that even though the video was obviously fake, laughing about a woman getting hit is a terrible look for the face of a college football program.

However, following the press conference, media figures and analysts quickly flooded social media to call out the behaviour and defend Rowe.

Prominent women in sports broadcasting were quick to point out how damaging the moment felt for female reporters. FOX and NBC Sports host Kylen Mills put it bluntly on X, asking, “Can we stop making violence against women the punchline of a joke.”

The reaction from active sports broadcasters was immediate and sharp. Sports broadcaster Kim Adams echoed that frustration, sharing that just when you think progress is being made for women in men’s sports, a moment like this pulls everything backward. She shifted much of the blame away from the 22-year-old quarterback himself, focusing instead on the room’s reaction and the reporter who called Arch’s answer “gold.”

NFL reporter Crissy Foyd echoed a similar sentiment to that of Adams, as FOX Sports host Devan Kaney took straight to X to point out the absurdity of the room’s reaction, writing, “Just so y’all know this is the video Arch Manning (and apparently the room of ‘journalists’) found so hilarious.”

The reporters in the room asking Manning questions can’t seem to catch a break. Emmy-winning sportscaster Chris Williamson, just like most of the other media figures, called out the broader atmosphere in the room, posting that no matter how many times he replayed the clip, he struggled to see “what in the world is so funny about a coach slapping a reporter in an AI edit,” adding plainly that “everybody laughing should be ashamed of themselves.”

Other veteran media voices took a more measured, teaching-moment approach while still refusing to brush it off. Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wolken posted on X that after watching the video in question, it was “not funny at all.” While giving Arch the benefit of the doubt for being young, Wolken noted that “one day he will look back and want a do-over on that one.”

For female sports journalists who already deal with casual dismissiveness on the sidelines, this hit a very sensitive spot. Deepfake tech is increasingly being used to target women in media with fake, harmful clips, and seeing a room full of sports professionals chuckle at a depicted assault showed how easily digital harassment gets brushed off as a harmless joke in college football circles.

Plus, because Arch comes from the famous Manning football family, who are known for being media-trained, some started joking that he is in for emergency public relations training, and others petitioned him for a course in social grace.

However, so far, neither the Texas Longhorns, the Manning family, nor Holly Rowe herself has said anything official about the quarterback’s comments. It is a massive distraction for the team, especially since their big win just bumped them up to the No. 1 spot in the country.

People are waiting to see if Arch will issue an apology, but for now, he is definitely learning a tough lesson about what not to say when the microphones are on.