Controversial social media influencer and former reality TV star Andrew Tate was banned from Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram on Friday.
Tate, 35, was banned due to violations of Meta’s policies on dangerous organizations and individuals, according to the BBC. Before he was banned, Tate had over 4.7 million followers on his Instagram account, @cobratate.
The former kickboxing champion discussed the ban with popular Twitch streamer Adin Ross.
“I’m quite understanding of their position,” Tate said. “It’s not a big loss for me. It’s not something I use too often.”
“I’m kind of relieved because the real world is such a beautiful place. The less things on my phone and it’s just one less thing I have to look at. I’ll just get in my supercar and go for a drive.”
Tate told the Twitch streamer he doesn’t know why he was banned from the Meta platforms. But went on to say that he has “good people on the case” and that he trusts “Due process.”
Tate’s first rise into the limelight came when he appeared as a contestant on the UK version of “Big Brother” in 2016.
He was kicked from the show after a video emerged of him allegedly attacking a woman. Tate’s stance on the video is that it was edited and “a total lie trying to make me look bad,” as reported by the BBC.
In 2017, during the height of the Harvey Weinstein allegations, Tate was suspended by Twitter for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted.
Tate’s popularity grew amid outlandish comments about women’s intelligence, saying they’re “intrinsically lazy,” and is a strong proponent that men should have “authority” over a woman when in a relationship.
CBS News reported that an account associated with Tate was permanently banned from TikTok, as the company ramps up its efforts to remove videos of Tate’s hateful ideologies. His videos are being uploaded by various accounts not directly associated with Tate, with the #andrewtate having more than 13 billion views on TikTok.
“Our investigation into this content is ongoing, as we continue to remove violative accounts and videos, and pursue measures to strengthen our enforcement, including our detection models, against this type of content,” a spokesperson told CBS News.