WOMEN’S rights activist has slammed Andrew Tate after he said one of his alleged victims was “imaginary” and “doesn’t exist.”
In his bombshell interview with the BBC under house arrest, the disgraced influencer accused the broadcaster of “inventing” the woman’s allegations.
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The former kickboxer claimed the legal case against him has been “utterly fabricated” in the tense one-on-one with journalist Lucy Williamson.
He furiously denied fuelling a culture of misogyny and dismissed all the alleged charges against him that were being investigated.
Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in December as Romanian cops raided their luxury mansion over allegations of human trafficking and rape.
But they have since been released under house arrest after a decision to deny them bail was overturned by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.
Tate is now facing fresh controversy regarding his comments in his explosive BBC interview which came to an abrupt end.
Viewers were left outraged after he insisted one of his alleged victims was fictional and sternly shot down damning questions.
The combative conversation turned to a woman who has spoken out against Tate under the pseudonym Sophie.
She alleged she was slapped, strangled and subjected to sexual violence after being lured to Romania while speaking with BBC Radio 4 in February.
The Brit claimed she was pulled in by the promise of romance only to be pressured into working as a cam girl.
The alleged victim even said she had been coerced into branding her body with Tate’s name in the form of a tattoo on her arm.
But the controversial influencer dismissed the discussion surrounding Sophie and accused the BBC of “inventing” her testimony.
He became visibly enraged while saying: “Has she accused me of a crime, this imaginary Sophie?
“This Sophie, which the BBC invented, which there’s no face of, nobody knows who she is.
“Sophie hasn’t gone to court, Sophie doesn’t exist.”
Tate became embroiled in a verbal tussle with interviewer Lucy as he deflected her questions and reminded her she was “not the boss here.”
He continued to deny the allegations while demanding she moved on to the next subject as the chat grew increasingly hostile.
His brazen comments have sparked fury and were branded a “slap in the face” for survivors.
Dr Charlotte Proudman, the director of women’s organisation Right to Equality, slammed the BBC for giving Tate a platform.
She claimed victims who she works with have told her they felt “re-traumatised” by watching him “minimising his abusive behaviour.”
OUTRAGE
“The BBC aired Andrew Tate’s comment that an abuse victim’s allegations against him are ‘imaginary’ which is tantamount to gaslighting if he is found guilty,” the campaigner told inews.
“Where is the duty of care for victims?
“I am deeply concerned about the impact of this on victims more broadly who may feel that platforming an extreme misogynist accused of violent acts towards women is a slap in the face for them.
“A survivor of rape told me she felt triggered, and couldn’t help but imagine her rapist sitting in his position.
“Why is the media giving airtime to men accused of heinous acts rather than survivors whose voices are rarely heard?”
Domestic abuse campaigner David Challen also chimed in with a tweet, saying Tate’s manipulation tactics were on full view in the interview.
He fumed: “In an interview with the BBC Andrew Tate says he’s against any form of abuse but at the same time some of his comments are ‘jokes’ and ‘satirical content’.
“The man who refutes manipulating women sure is trying to manipulate this female journalist.”
Deniz Uğur, Deputy Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, echoed his comments.
She fumed: “The tactics we saw being used in this interview are nothing new and just the latest in a long line of men using their profile, status or power to dismiss victims and trivialise violence against women.
“That perpetrators continue to regurgitate tired victim-blaming tropes – including discrediting survivors and those who support them – demonstrates the pervasive harm gender inequality has on women’s lives, and on our wider society.”
VIP TREATMENT
The BBC was also blasted by Romanian prosecutors for treating Tate “like a VIP” in the interview at his home.
He sported a dapper suit as he sat relaxed in a comfy chair and answered questions in what appeared to be a private room.
But despite Tate’s airtime being cut short, Romanian prosecutors scolded the broadcaster for even giving the misogynist an opportunity.
A judicial source told The Sun Online it was disgraceful.
The source said: “It is really outrageous to see Mr Tate spread such bad words on the Romanian authorities when there is an investigation for over five months, with many pieces of evidence.
“It is simply just not normal for Mr Tate to give such an interview with so many conditions to BBC, like he was an outstanding VIP, and not in fact a person investigated with his brother for several crimes.
“But I hope that the laws and the pieces of evidence will have the final word in this case from which Mr Tate tries to do a sort of show.”
Following the interview, Tate released an “unredacted” version of the almost 40-minute-long interview, which he shared on Twitter.
During the opening of the one-on-one chat, he claimed the BBC attempted a “hit job” after they ” ignored all of their promised questions”.
He added: “I harbour no hard feelings against the BBC or any journalist who attempts to lie about me.
“The truth of my message is known and good will continue to spread.”
Police sources insist they still have a case against the Tates – vowing the investigation into them will be complete by July.
Cops said they expect the brothers will be charged and face trial in the autumn – saying they have “thousands of documents and pieces of evidence”.
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Olivia Burke
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