Andrew Tate has called his interview with the BBC this week “a hit job” and taken to social media to bemoan his treatment.
The controversial influencer sat down with BBC journalist Lucy Williamson for what became an increasingly barbed encounter as Tate denied all claims of a culture of misogyny and emotional abuse, before the journalist brought the interview to an abrupt end.
Tate posted on Twitter an extended version of the interview, and introduced it as an attempt at “a hit job” by the broadcaster. He added:
They sent a list of questions in advance, which I did NOT ask for, as a measure of “good faith” that they wanted to show “the other side of Andrew Tate, and do a fair and balanced piece on the unspoken perspective.”
“They then sat down, threw all of this away and attacked me instantly, an ambush. A hit job attempt. They attempted to sucker punch me. They failed.”
Tate is under house arrest in Romania awaiting trial for charges of rape and human trafficking – allegations he denied in the BBC interview.
Meanwhile, prosecutors, waiting to try him and his brother in court, have criticised the BBC for treating Tate “like a VIP.”
The UK’s Sun newspaper quotes a legal source inside the country, complaining:
“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.”