In a contentious interview with the BBC, Andrew Tate denies fueling a culture of misogyny, defending his own reputation.
When the BBC presented him with a number of allegations, including specific allegations of rape, human trafficking and exploitation of women, for which he is currently under investigation by Romanian prosecutors, Tate dismissed them all.
Asked if his controversial views on women are harmful to young people, the influencer claimed that he is a "force of good" and that he "does good deeds according to the instructions of God".
This was Tate's first television interview with a major media outlet since his release in April to house arrest from police custody in Romania.
Tate, who has repeatedly shown mistrust of traditional media, has a huge online following, but his views have so far gone unchallenged in a direct interview such as this one.
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He agreed to our interview without any preconditions.
He rejected the testimony of individual women involved in the current investigation who accused him of rape and exploitation.
And he described another woman, who was interviewed anonymously by the BBC at the beginning of the year, as "imaginary", claiming that the media made her up.
The woman in question, who was given the pseudonym "Sophie" to protect her identity, told za BBC Radio 4 that she went with Tate to Romania convinced that he was in love with her.
There, she was pressured to film herself in front of a webcam and tattoo Tate's name on her own body, she said.
Asked about Sophie's testimony, Tate told the BBC:
"I am doing you a favor as a traditional medium, I am giving you importance, just by speaking for you. And now I tell you, that Sophie, invented by the BBC, has no face. Nobody knows who she is. I know that."
Sofi is currently assisting Romanian prosecutors in their investigation.
I also raised with him the concerns of school teachers, senior police officials and human rights activists about the impact of his views.
It also includes comments from the chief executive of the organization "Rape Crisis England and Wales", who stated that she was "deeply concerned about the dangerous ideology of misogynistic rape culture spread by Tate".
Sitting across from me in a small armchair, Tate said the allegations were "absolute rubbish".
Later in the interview, he said it was "grossly disingenuous" to "pretend" he was harming young people.
Asked about the organizations that blame him for the increasing number of cases of attacks on girls and harassment of female teachers, he said:
"I have never, ever encouraged any student to attack a teacher, male or female, ever."
"I advocate dedicated work, discipline. I'm an athlete, I'm against drugs and alcohol, I support religion, I'm against knife crime.
"I am against every possible problem in modern society."
Tate said some of his comments were taken out of context or were intended to be "joking in nature" - such as a video discussion in which he said a woman's genitals were the property of her male partner.
"I don't know if you understand what sarcasm is. I don't know if you understand what context is.
"I don't know if you understand what satirical content is," he told me when his own comment was brought to his attention.
His description does not match the tone of the internet video viewed by BBC journalists.
He denied admitting to emotional manipulation of women, despite comments he made in person in a previous version of his own online course, The University of Flirting.
The introduction on that website read: "My name is Andrew Tate... and I am the most competent person on the entire planet to teach you about male-female relationships."
As it goes on, Tate's job is to "meet a girl, go out with her a few times, sleep with her, get her to fall in love with me so she'll do whatever I tell her, and then put her in front of a webcam so we can have fun together." let's get rich."
That page has since been removed from the Internet.
Asked about it in an interview, Tate replied that he "never said that."
I suggested that his controversial statements made him a lot of money by attracting followers who then signed up for paid courses on how to become a successful man.
"I am a true force of good in this world. You may not be aware of it yet, but you will be one day.
"And I truly believe that I am acting according to the instructions of God in order to do good deeds and make this world a better place," was his answer.
During our conversation, which lasted nearly 40 minutes, Tate pointed several times at what he called the "papers" I had brought with me, telling me I was "talking nonsense" and that I "need to do some research first."
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In a show of distrust towards the traditional media, our visit and interview was filmed by his team for their own use.
After we left, he claimed that the BBC had promised to ask only "washed-up questions".
Although the BBC has sent us pre-interview talking points as a courtesy, as required by our editorial guidelines, we have not pre-agreed on the questions we will ask and have made it clear that our interview will cover a wide range of topics and that it will be dynamic. discussion with demanding questions.
Before we left the building, Tate posted a message on social media promising to release his own version of the interview, which he did soon after.
The BBC has been closely following his case since the end of last year, when the Tate brothers were taken into custody, and has spoken to witnesses, former employees, neighbors and associates, as well as those involved in the investigation, to build an authentic picture of the Tate brothers' stay in Romania.
The brothers are now in their sixth and final month under judicial review in this investigation, and any indictments are expected within the next few weeks.
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