Andrew Tate, a social media influencer and former kickboxer with a sizable online fan base, has been banned from Facebook and Instagram.
According to Rolling Stone and Forbes, Meta, the organization behind both social media sites, announced that Tate had been banned on Friday due to his content. Some of Tate’s most outspoken detractors have called him a “violent misogynist,” but he has maintained his popularity on social media sites like TikTok by appealing to naive young males with sexist content.
The 35-year-old was previously banned from Twitter in 2017 after making the suggestion that victims of sexual assault should “bear some responsibility.” He has frequently expressed violent attitudes toward women and underprivileged groups. Other notable, but equally repulsive, statements made by the controversial figure include the time he claimed he would use a machete to threaten a woman if she accused him of cheating and the time he claimed he finds younger women to be more attractive than older ones because they have, in his words, “been through less dick.”
In a statement provided to NBC News earlier this month, Tate claimed he portrays an “online character” and is a “success coach.” He said that his content has “nothing to do for hate for women,” and that he’s coaching his audience to avoid “low value people,” which includes “toxic men.” He added, “My mother is my hero.” When he spoke to Rolling Stone about the ban this week, he said, “The media is spinning a false image of me, on repeat, and Instagram bowing to pressure is a massive shame.”
According to BBC News, the former kickboxer first rose to fame in 2016 after a video surfaced showing him using a belt to abuse a woman got him fired from the reality television program Big Brother. Later, he insisted that the incident was mutual. Organization Hope Not Hate has started a petition asking social media providers to ban him from their sites due to his offensive content. Since then, a Forbes spokeswoman has acknowledged that an investigation into Tate’s content has been started.