Andrew Tate BBC interview: Influencer challenged on misogyny and rape allegations - BBC News (2023)

Introduction

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has denied fuelling a culture of misogyny and defended his reputation in a combative interview with the BBC.

When the BBC put a range of allegations to him - including specific accusations of rape, human trafficking and exploiting women, for which he is being investigated by Romanian prosecutors - he dismissed them.

This was Mr Tate's first television interview with a major broadcaster since being released into house arrest from police custody in Romania in April.

He agreed to the interview with no set conditions.

#AndrewTate #Interview #BBCNews

Video

Now the PPC has questioned the controversial social media, influencer Andrew Tate at his home in the Romanian capital, Bucharest Tate is under house arrest and being investigated by Romanian prosecutors for accusations, including rape, human trafficking and exploiting women, which he denies.

The BBC challenged him on whether his views about women broadcast to his millions of online followers harmed young people, as many teachers and police officers claim well.

The interview which had no set conditions was Tate's first since being released into house arrest from police custody.

Last month, Lucy Williamson reports now from Bucharest.

We are doing an interview with you, because you're facing some very serious allegations: correct rape, human trafficking, yep and also because there's a great deal of concern about the things you say and the impact that they have on young people on women.

I.

Don't think the concerns about the things I say: I, think the concern is for the level of influence, I have and the reach I have.

Let's start with the allegations.

Have you raped anybody? Absolutely not have you trafficked anybody absolutely not exploited any women for money not, but you have admitted using emotional manipulation to get women to work in the webcam industry.

For you, no, we have an open criminal investigation.

I am absolutely not really sure I'll be found.

Innocent I know the case better than you I know it intimately and you don't I, have seen all the criminal files and the evidence against me and you haven't I, know the truth of what happened and you don't and I'm telling you absolutely not really I've never hurt anybody that the case that's been put against me is completely not only fabricated and I'm never going to be found guilty of anything, and it's very difficult for me to answer your in-depth questions, because we're sitting here inside of the territory of Romania, I'm, beholden to the Romanian legal system and I'm not going to incriminate myself.

Let me read you, then what you have said about what you have done sure you have said my job was to meet a girl.

Go on a few dates: sleep with her get her to fall in love with me to the point where she'd do anything I say and then get her on webcam, so we could become rich together, I, don't think that's what I personally said, I think! That's exactly what you said on your website.

That's no I've never said that.

That's something that you found on the internet doesn't mean I've, said it and again, once again, if any female on the planet has a problem with me, I strongly recommend her to go to the police and try and pursue me for criminal charges I'm.

Actually such a nice person, the BBC has spoken to somebody since your arrest, who says exactly those things that with you, it's all manipulation, there's an ulterior.

Oh it's Sophie, the the fake name, no face sorry about wanting to please him and wanting him to be happy that I was just kind of yeah.

Okay, do whatever you want and what does she accused me of a crime, this imaginary Sophie she's, making the point that there is actually accused me of a crime, emotional or psychological manipulation and I've allowed you into my house I'm, asking you a question correct, but you're, not the boss.

Here, because I've allowed you into my house I'm, asking you the question correctly and I'm telling you you get to decide the answers.

No we're equal here, I've allowed you into my house.

You don't come here with a position of authority, I'm doing you the favor as Legacy Media, giving you relevance by speaking to you and I'm telling you now.

This Sophie wish the BBC is invented, which is no face of.

Nobody knows who she is.

The BBC did not invent, of course not, and she, because you never invent anything and she was not far she's not filed criminal charges against me.

What are we talking about here? What are you talking about emotional manipulation into the sex industry for your financial gain, absolute garbage I'm, describing women who are going to court to accuse you of rape and humans I'm describing in women who have spoken to the BBC at length and other media organizations about what they say is emotional manipulation and coercion and I'm? Quoting back to you, your own words where you describe they're, not my word, you found on the internet and Sophie doesn't existence in your voice, move on to the next subject.

No I think I'll stick on this one for a minute, so there's other places in that same website where you say you get girls to fall in love with you and they do it because they love you because they want to do what you say: convincing women to take part in some kind of business.

Arrangement doesn't work long term, because they're emotional you've got to get them to fall in love with you, coercion, that's emotional manipulation, that's abuse! What you've found are clips from the internet, some text from the internet and you're going to sit here and tell me that that's the reason I should your website your words it's on my website.

Yes, it is no, it's not check my website next, it's the website, you've taken down and I wonder why those comments have been taken down.

No website's been taken down.

My website is the same and it's been the same for a very long time.

You are accusing me I'm guessing what you're trying to say is you're, accusing me and you're trying to say that I'm guilty of the things I'm accused of and I'm emotionally, manipulating people, I'm saying that you have said you emotionally manipulated people here for your own financial gain.

No, absolutely not it's not only about the criminal allegations.

It's a much bigger issue.

You've got children's organizations in the UK.

You've got rape.

Organizations in the UK you've got the police naming You by name as someone who has a harmful influence on children and on women in the UK and elsewhere.

Because of the things you say because of the way you present gender relations, the way you say, men should treat women, that's very upsetting and the reason that's very upsetting is because I know that's not true, I'm, genuinely a good person.

I believe my impact on the world is positive.

The reason I'm asking you about these comments is because we've got the chief executive of Rape Crisis, naming you individually as spreading a dangerous ideology of misogynistic rape, culture.

Absolutely it's the comments you make that are leading people to say things like this National organizations who are saying that are blaming you for increasing levels of misogyny schools that are saying they are having increased incidents of girls being attacked of female teachers being harassed.

If that was by pupils because of you and your teaching and your influence, that's absolute garbage I have never ever encouraged a student to attack a teacher, male or female.

Ever I preach hard work, discipline, I'm an athlete, I preach anti-drug I, preach religion, I preach no alcohol, I preach, uh, no knife crime, every single problem with modern society, I'm against, but I'm energy, young men, I'm teaching young men to be disciplined to be diligent, to listen to train, to work hard to be exactly like me and I'm, saying that if men grow up like me, which are hard-working and diligent and some emotional control and stoic we're gonna have a better Society, not a worse Society, to sit here and say that schools in England England, which is a failing nation which has knife crime going through the roof.

Violence going through the roof men's mental health going through the roof and they're going to all blame me because I appeared on the internet disingenuous.

It's disingenuous, a financial success with a Bugatti and a cigar, but it comes with a side order of misogyny.

How does having a Bugatti and a cigar? Come with a misogyny I am asking you about things that you have said that have caused major national organizations, including the police, to worry about you by name.

That's what I'm asking you! It's not what I say it's about what you have said that has caused such concern in the UK and I want to put it to you that you don't really care about the harm it cause.

That's what causes, because that's not true making controversial statements like this online has made you a lot of money.

Okay, so first thing, I genuinely am a Force for good in the world.

You may not understand that yet, but you will eventually and I genuinely believe I'm acting under the instruction of God to do good things and I want to make the world a better place.

I genuinely believe my legacy is a good Legacy and I believe that, eventually, when the Legacy Media catches up they're going to understand, I'm a good positive influence, I'm, not interested in damaging the world for money, because if I was interested in damaging the world for money, I could have sold drugs or I could make rap music and encourage everyone to stab each other.

Like all the drill artists do, or you could make controversial statements online- that attract a lot of followers who you then direct to your website where they pay I could learn how to be like you, I mean I could make I could make jokes online, who doesn't I mean I could make a joke? Are you saying that all the controversial things you've said are jokes I'm, saying that these organizations and the BBC who are going to sit here and pretend that I am the face of damaging the youth, is absolutely garbage? It's completely disingenuous.

It makes you the reason in fact, I've seen thousands and thousands of comments and have endless emails from women praising praising the fact that their sons are listening to me.

The things I'm saying does not worry, it would worry, you're not concerned about it.

It would worry me if I was genuinely damaging the world, but for you to sit here and say Andrew you become the most Googled man in the world.

You have billions of views and one woman.

One is now saying that her husband is not the same as she wants to be when thousands and thousands of people are saying the opposite.

Well, then I would say that that's interviewed with case after case after case with quote after quote, after quote with people who are genuinely concerned about the impact you're having and you brush it off as if it's nothing now.

What you have done is come here with an agenda.

You've come here with loaded questions.

You've come here with things taken out of context.

You come here with things that you don't understand, are satirical and then you're gonna also sit and say that one woman said that her boyfriend changed when he watched one of your videos and and then I, don't know what you're terrible to say to that.

Stick and jokes: that's how you explain the comments you make for you to sit down.

Would you like to apologize for any of that for you to sit down and for you to sit down? It's fine? No! It's fine! It's easy for you to sit down and say that one woman said that her boyfriend watched an Andrew, Tate video, and now he won't do the dishes School.

Whatever your job is police I'm, somehow the worst most dangerous man in the world, because I have a car.

It's just disingenuous! If you actually watch the things I say if you actually watch my comments about women, I've done long podcasts for hours, long about females, talk about protecting for them, providing for them.

How I believe a woman should be treated in a relationship.

I've done all of this, and today talking there to Lucy Williamson.

Well, let's uh go straight to The Newsroom, go straight to our education, editor brand new and uh Jeffries who's there for us, and brown and I know that over the last recent, while you've been talking to so many teachers about Andrew Tate How concerned, are they about the stuff he pumps out? Matthew teachers have spoken very vividly of how they are deeply worried about how the language, the attitudes, the behaviors, that Andrew Tate models in his content are having a far-reaching influence on boys as young as 10 and 11, and certainly older teenagers that they say is translating into a culture where casual sexual sexism is normalized in UK schools, where the kind of language that you might hear in some of Andrew Tate's videos are then repeated by children back to teachers and that that, along with other online content, is contributing to sexual harassment in schools to sexual assaults in schools.

In terms of what we were just listening to and what you've just said about uh concern from teachers.

How are they actually combating? All of that, and in terms of conversations you have with pupils what sort of proportion roughly know about this sort of content view this sort of competent to potentially influenced by this sort of content.

It would be hard to find a teenager in the UK who wasn't aware of Andrew Tate and his content, whether or not they've consumed very much of it themselves, and some of them will have done.

He projects this image of success, of Fame of wealth, of which very much appeals to some easily influenced young teenage boys and alongside that, they are absorbing some of the other language and attitudes that he's using now.

Schools have genuinely taken a view that they don't want to focus too much on him as an individual, but rather their approach is that they try to teach about respectful language and relationships to try and give some sense of what is normally acceptable in society and to build resilience in children so that they can look at online contact content.

Look at videos on different social media platforms and distance themselves enough to make a judgment about whether those are behaviors they should be adopted.

But schools say they are fighting an uphill battle against what teenagers can see online and on social media, and this is just one part of it.