Arch Manning Sparks Backlash for Laughing at Insensitive Video: ‘Violence Toward Women Is Never Funny’

Apparently not every member of the Manning family is poised under the spotlight.

Arch Manning is facing backlash for comments he made on Monday, September 14, after the video of his Texas coach Steve Sarkisian‘s brush-off of ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe following the team’s historic 24-23 win over Ohio State on Saturday went viral, along with a slew of memes.

“I’ve seen a few AI edits of stuff but that’s about it. I saw an AI edit of Sark’s interview,” the Longhorns quarterback, 22, said at a press conference (via Evan Vieth on X). “Have you all seen that one? That’s a good one. Of him slapping Holly Rowe?”

In the initial video (via Pick 6 Pack on X), Sarkisian simply said, “Texas fight, hook ’em,” before running away from a visibly annoyed Rowe to join his team, and the coach was widely panned for being rude. But a fan later shared an AI-generated version of the exchange, which featured Sarkisian backhanding the reporter across the face.

Arch, whose father is Cooper Manning, 52, the older brother of NFL greats Peyton Manning, 50, and Eli Manning, 45, smiled and laughed while joking about the moment with reporters.

“Mannings are about to put Arch through six more weeks of media training 💀,” Old Row Sports’ post was captioned.

And they weren’t wrong: The college student was quickly slammed.

“Violence toward women is never funny,” wrote one X user, while another added, “his answer is total misogynistic [expletive].”

“My guess is all attempts to get him to grow up have fallen on deaf ears over the years. If it were my Grandson I’d be having a closed door meeting with him as we speak,” another wrote, seemingly referring to Manning patriarch and football legend Archie Manning, 77.

And while some suggested that his famous uncles likely share his inappropriate sense of humor, a third user pointed out, “You already know Peyton and Eli called him 500 times after this.”