Andrew Tate, a social media influencer with millions of followers has denied fuelling a culture of misogyny and defended his reputation in a combative interview with the BBC.
Tate, who is under house arrest in Romania while being investigated by prosecutors for rape, human trafficking, and exploiting women, dismissed the allegations as “absolute garbage”.
The influencer claimed he was a “force for good” and that he was “acting under the instruction of God to do good things”.
This was his first television interview with a major broadcaster since being released from police custody in April.
Tate, who has repeatedly expressed his mistrust of traditional media, agreed to the interview with no set conditions.
He faced questions about his controversial views on women, which he posts online to his huge fan base, mostly young men.
He has said that women are “inferior” to men, that they should be “submissive” and “obedient”, and that rape is a “made-up word”.
He encouraged his followers to use violence and coercion to control women and to film their sexual encounters without consent.
The BBC put to him the concerns of schoolteachers, senior police figures, and rights campaigners who said his views were harmful to young people and society.
They included the chief executive of Rape Crisis in England and Wales, who said she was “deeply concerned by the dangerous ideology of misogynistic rape culture that Mr. Tate spreads”.
Tate said those accusations were “completely disingenuous” and that he had never encouraged anyone to attack or harass anyone.
He said he was teaching young men how to be confident and successful, and that he had received thousands of messages of gratitude from his fans.
He also dismissed the testimonies of individual women involved in the current investigation who have accused him of rape and exploitation.
And he described another woman, interviewed anonymously by the BBC earlier this year, as “imaginary”, saying she had been invented by the BBC.
The woman in question, given the pseudonym Sophie to protect her identity, told BBC Radio 4’s File on Four that she followed Mr Tate to Romania believing he was in love with her.
There, she was pressured into webcam work and into having Mr. Tate’s name tattooed on her body, she said.
Tate said he had never met Sophie and that she was part of a conspiracy against him by the Romanian authorities and the media.
The social media influencer said he was being targeted because he was a wealthy and influential foreigner who had exposed corruption in Romania.
He said he had done nothing wrong and that he would prove his innocence in court.
He also said he had no plans to stop posting his views online or to apologize for them.
He said he was not afraid of criticism or controversy, and that he was prepared to face any consequences for his actions.
