The fiancée of Colorado Buffaloes star Travis Hunter broke her silence amid a wave of criticism she has received over the last week for her interactions with the football player.
Leanna Lenee received the brunt of wild online criticism as of late for her reactions at specific moments. She posted a video on her TikTok account to try and quell the outpouring of negativity.
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Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter, #12, catches a pass in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown with Central Florida defensive back Brandon Adams behind him during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
“I’m tired, emotionally and mentally. I’ve seen people trying to make me out to be a person that I am not,” Lenee said in the near 8-minute clip. “But what’s a testimony without a test of faith?”
Lenee went over her relationship with Hunter from the beginning and addressed each moment of criticism she received from clips posted online.
She explained that after Colorado’s last win over Oklahoma State, security was afraid of fans storming the field and would not let fans, or even family, go down with the players. Lenee said that was what she was upset about then.
“It was not deeper than anyone made it out to be,” she said.
At the Adidas event where she was accused of saying, “What am I supposed to do just sit here?,” she said she was asking Hunter whether she should stay with him or go with his family. She said the clips that surfaced online were of Hunter taking photos with Adidas reps for social posts.
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Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter answers questions during media interviews before the 2024 Heisman Trophy presentation on Dec 14, 2024 in New York City. (Lucas Boland-Imagn Images)
“The things that I see people make up is truly crazy because that’s not what happened. I just think people are finding every single little thing and making it something it’s not,” she said of the criticism. “Bird-brained individuals are just accepting what they see online.”
Finally, she addressed the negativity around her response to Hunter winning the Heisman Trophy in the frazzled moment his name was called. Lenee got teary-eyed as she said that Hunter was “perfect” in her eyes.
“When his name was called, I instantly was going to get up — if you watch the video, his mom didn’t get up, so I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I don’t get up, I just sit here,’” she said. “… As soon as I seen Travis get up, then I thought it was appropriate to stand up, greet him, congratulate him.
“But then, there was a camera right in front of Coach Prime and I knew they were going to film that moment and, because of how people are online, I was like, I don’t want to be in that shot, so I sat down.
“I got out of the camera, purposefully, so they can have their moment. That’s all it was. No one told me to stand up, no one had to tell me to celebrate with him. I was just sitting there crying, I wanted to take it in — I was super excited for him. But I wanted the moment to be about him and his family.”
Hunter and Lenee got engaged in February.
The Colorado two-way star defended Lenee on Twitch.
Cornerback Travis Hunter, #12 of the Colorado Buffaloes, hits the Heisman Pose after making an interception during the game against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium on Sept. 28, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
“You ain’t never had no girl so why are y’all talking about me,” he said. “Find someone else to talk about. … Go talk about your girl. Go find a girl. Go find a life. Stop worrying about what I got going on. I know what I got.
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“My girl been with me for five years. y’all are just now starting to talk about me… y’all go do something else with y’all life. Clickbait pages stop, y’all better stop I’m telling y’all. Something bad is gonna happen to y’all [if you] keep doing that. Y’all better stop that. I ain’t playing.”
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