UPDATE: Manti Te'o Telling Friends He Kept Hoax a Secret Throughout December for Sake of Team

A new report from TMZ is shedding some light on the Manti Te'o scandal, though the star Notre Dame linebacker is not planning to make any public appearances to further explain the situation.

Te'o has reportedly told people close to him that he knew the truth about "Lennay Kekua" in early December, but kept it a secret for the sake of his team, which was heading toward the national title game.

On Wednesday, a Deadspin.com report revealed that Te'o's girlfriend – who he said had died during the season – never actually existed. Since then, the only official communication from Te’o was a written statement, in which he claimed that he was the victim of an “incredibly embarrassing” online hoax.

Many are still wondering, however, whether Te’o played a part in setting up the hoax, in which the picture of a California woman was turned into “Lennay Kekua.” Te’o claims that he carried on the relationship exclusively on the phone and online, and never actually met Kekua.

Notre Dame said Te'o learned about the hoax on Dec. 6, but he still spoke of Kekua's death in television interviews after that date. The school said Te'o finally told his coaches about the hoax on Dec. 26.

Here is the latest report from Mike Tobin, including the first video of Te'o since the scandal broke.