Andrew Tate has said he lives ‘with a very, very pure heart’ while insisting his controversial remarks on women were ‘taken out of context’ following his ban from YouTube, , and — declaring he is not ‘the number one villain on Earth.’
In a final ‘goodbye’ video message on Tuesday night, the ex-Big Brother contestant, 35, said his video content had been ‘vilified’ as he announced he would be taking ‘a break’ from podcasting.
The former kickboxer branded much of the criticism he has received as ‘false narratives’, insisting he has ‘done nothing wrong’ and ‘goes to church’, adding that both he ‘and God know of my innocence’.
The hour-long missive, in which Tate repeatedly describes himself as ‘the most famous man on the planet’, was shared by fellow YouTube star , who said he should have ‘freedom of speech.’
Tate first came to prominence when he appeared on the TV show Big Brother in 2016, but was removed from the programme after a video surfaced online which appeared to show him attacking a woman with a belt — a clip he claimed had been edited.
Since then, he has gained further notoriety online for a string of comments about women, including suggesting that they ‘bear some responsibility’ if they are assaulted — an incident which led to him being banned from .
In a final ‘goodbye’ video message on Tuesday night (pictured), ex-Big Brother contestant Andrew Tate, 35, said his video content had been ‘vilified’ as he announced he would be taking ‘a break’ from podcasting
It is his outspoken videos, popular with many young men, for which Tate is chiefly known. Clips on Instagram (pictured) under the hashtag Andrew Tate have racked up over 11.6 billion views, and clips of on TikTok have been viewed more than 13 billion times.(Pictured: Tate talks about slapping and choking a woman who ‘likes it rough’)
In one video, Tate advised men accused of cheating by their girlfriends to ‘bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck.Shut up b***h.’
Born in Chicago, Illinois, but brought up in Luton, Bedfordshire, Tate has also garnered a reputation over his various business activities.
He operated a website called ‘Hustler’s University’ in which members pay a monthly fee in order to receive instructions on dropshipping and cryptocurrency.Tate’s followers earned commission for signing up new members, leading critics to label it a ‘pyramid scheme’. The marketing programme closed this month.
Together with his brother Tristan, he allegedly set up a webcam business in Romania in which young models told sob stories to unsuspecting male viewers.Despite that the site was ‘a total scam’, Tate claims to have made millions from it.
But it is his outspoken videos, popular with many young men, for which Tate is chiefly known. Clips on Instagram under the hashtag Andrew Tate have racked up over 11.6 billion views, and clips of on TikTok have been viewed more than 13 billion times.
In his goodbye message last night, Tate said the ‘attacks’ on him were ‘disguised under the virtue of caring about women.’
He added: ‘None of these people attacking me care about women, none of them donate to women’s charities, none of them donate to charity like I do, none of them help anyone like I do.’
Tate said that he has a ‘unique point of view’ and that he welcomes people to challenge it, and that he has ‘no problem with being disliked’.
However, he said, he ‘does have a problem’ with people taking clips of his videos and reporting them ‘out of context’ and ‘removing the tonality’, and with people ‘accusing him of illegality.’
He claimed he became the ‘most googled man on the planet’ and that he was a ‘victim of his own success’ because it led people to want to find ‘any little clip’ that they could ‘blow up’ to be ‘as controversial as possible’ — because ‘they want the views for themselves.’
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate, 35, has been banned from Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram
Tate said ‘thousands’ of men had messaged him saying his videos on ‘how to beat depression’ had ‘saved them from suicide’, insisting he has had a positive effect ‘on millions.’
‘Public consciousness via the media has genuinely bought into a construct where people believe I am dangerous,’ he added.
‘All I have done is save people from depression, we talk about men’s mental health, like when Paddy Pimblett just fought, he said if you had problems with mental health you should come forward.’
The video then shows Pimblett speaking at a post-fight press conference in which he says he would rather carry his friend’s head on his shoulder ‘than carry his coffin’ — after recently losing his friend Ricky who tragically took his own life before his UFC London victory.
It then shows a clip of Tyson Fury discussing mental health, before Tate adds: ‘Everyone tells us men, you should talk more, talk to us.
‘I try to encourage men to be strong, I say listen, if you’re depressed get in the gym, a strong body is a strong mind…and by using my aspirational lifestyle, which is a lifestyle most men would love to have, because of the finance, the cars, the freedom etc, I encourage people to work hard, try their best, and to become the best version of themselves.’
Branding himself the ‘most influential person on planet’, Tate admitted that he ‘blames himself’ for the situation he finds himself in.
Before entering the Big Brother house in 2016, Tate had a kickboxing career and trained at a club in Luton
He said he admits he has to ‘change my messaging in line with my fame’ because the more people he reaches, the more he has to ‘make sure’ his videos are not ‘taken out of context’.
However the influencer said he is finding it difficult to operate out of fear his content will be ‘misrepresented and weaponised’.
He claimed he has received deals from some of the ‘biggest podcast companies in the world’, but said he has decided to ‘take a break’, adding: ‘With great influence comes great responsibility.’
‘Even with my genius intellect, I don’t know if I can find a way…for not one line to be taken out of context,’ he said.
He also insisted he loves women and said he has no rape or sexual assault charges despite being ‘the most famous man on the planet.’
He ended the video by confirming his break from podcasting, adding that he is not a bad guy because he runs a dog shelter and rebuilt and orphanage in Romania.
YouTube was the latest platform to permanently ban Tate for breaching its rules on hate speech.
The website said channels associated with Tate had been removed for breaching its terms of service, following similar moves by , and .
At the time of his removal, he had 4.7 million followers on Instagram — this number had grown rapidly from around one million followers just two months ago in June.
A number of campaign groups have criticised Tate for his views and warned he was a danger to young men and boys who see his content online, urging the various platforms on which he is active to remove him.
‘Toxic influencer’ Andrew Tate (pictured) says he was ‘playing a comedic character’ in videos which have been slammed as misogynistic after the ex-Big Brother star was banned from Facebook and Instagram for ‘violating policies’
Joe Mulhall, director of research at Hope Not Hate, said: ‘We are delighted that after discussions with YouTube, and our public campaigning, they have permanently removed his account.
‘Andrew Tate’s YouTube account was a huge source for harmful content which spread like wildfire across the internet.
‘But more action is required from all major tech platforms to make the internet a safer place.Removing Tate’s accounts from platforms does not automatically remove his content.’
TikTok said it has been taking action against videos and accounts that are found to violate its community guidelines.
A TikTok spokesperson said: ‘Misogyny is a hateful ideology that is not tolerated on TikTok.
‘We’ve been removing violative videos and accounts for weeks, and we welcome the news that other platforms are also taking action against this individual.’
, said it had removed the controversial influencer’s official accounts for breaching its rules around dangerous organisations or individuals and that he was now banned from using either Facebook or Instagram.
The ex-Big Brother star responded to the bans by telling MailOnline that he was ‘a fantastic role model for all people, both male and female’, adding that his platform ‘would be a beacon of light, teaching people of all genders and races how to respect one another’.
