Transcript
I believe in, the idea that I don't believe in these things is crazy. I didn't ask you if you believed in it, I asked you if you're going to get married. One day, absolutely. You'd like to?
If I'm not married already, I will be married one day, if I'm not.
You might be secretly married? I could be married, correct. Why would you not tell me either way? Why would I advertise to the feral psychopaths of the world who have tried their very best to destroy me for an opinion about my private life and the things that are most sacred to me? What do you think? If you said you were married, everyone would hate you? I don't know if people hate me. It's about me understanding that I'm a hard target,
But I am very, very protective of the people I care about. Right. But you believe in the concept of marriage? Completely. That's what we were talking about the whole time. What do you think? We talked about a man giving a woman away. I believe in marriage more than anybody. In fact, I believe in marriage... No, please. I believe in marriage in the traditional sense. I believe a man has a duty to stand up and be a real man. I believe that the problem with the world today that we are facing is that not enough men are sticking to the age-old ways of masculinity. I believe that me standing up and saying a man must protect a woman and provide for her, so he needs to make sure that she's safe. He needs a degree of authority to protect her. I have no problem with...
But no, but people do have a problem with it. And that's the world we're in now. I'm over here.
Sure. I don't have a problem with what you just said. Here's where my problem comes, right? Right.
There are a lot of clips of you floating around on the internet, as you know.
One of them has you saying, "Bang out the machete, boom in her face, grip her by the neck, shut up, bitch." In another, you say, "Slap, slap, grab, choke, shut up, bitch, sex."
When people see those clips and hear you say those things. Agreed. Well, I don't think that... There's a whole bunch of men in the world who understands my value. And if men grow up to be like me, you're going to have a whole bunch of people with no criminal record, dedicated athletes.
who protect and provide for the people close to them, are fantastic for the economy, and I'm certainly not the worst influence out here, Piers.
You have Lil Nas.
twerking on the devil
on music videos, which our children are digesting. You have drill art is singing about stabbing people to death in the middle of a knife crime epidemic. You have rabid psychopaths on whether the right or the left
announcing violence on the other side. You have all these insanities in the world, and because I sit here and say, "I... yeah, perhaps." Now you've laid it out and it offended you, I understand. -I didn't say it offended me. -Okay, cool. -I just read you the things... -You read things that you said that could be offensive and some people are offended. -Well, some people definitely were offended. -Absolutely.
That's fine. And honestly, I think some of the things you said were genuinely offensive and misogynist. Okay, so they offended you. So like I said earlier, so they offended you, which is fine. I said they offended you and you interrupted me, and now you're saying they offended you.
which is fine, and the... but the point I'm trying to make is this: I'm not the devil. There are certainly worse people than me... -I don't disagree with that. -And they exist. I... core tenets for the people who don't understand me are self-accountability, 'cause I'm accountable for everything I've ever said. My core tenets are responsibility, so I'm responsible for everything I've said. My core tenets are traditional masculinity to a degree, which involves protecting and providing for women. And I'll make another point, another point here that's very, very... that's very... that needs to be said.
The number of women who have stood up and stuck up for me
is ignored. Thousands of women are making videos saying, "I've met Andrew Tate. He's such a nice guy. I wish I had a man like Andrew Tate, who felt responsible to protect and provide for me." You know what? I-I do belong to my husband. That's why I married him and I love him. We ignore the thousands of women who stood up and per- and-and stood by me and said everything I said is true. And we're taking a very vocal minority, who have taken the things I've said, and are pretending to be absolutely and utterly devastated by them for some reason. -Okay. All right. Time out. Time out. -Sure.
If I had a good face, gripper by the neck, shut up, bitch. In another, you say slap, slap, grab, choke, shut up, bitch, sex.
When people see those clips and hear you say those things... Agree. Well, I don't think that...
It's not hard to misunderstand it. It is. You might say that it's consensual. Other people would say, whether it's consensual or not, that's a very ugly way to talk about women.
Completely. Now, let's watch... Hitting them with machetes? No. Watch the whole video. It's a girl coming at me with a machete and me saying, "Here, slap the machete out of her hand. She's attacking me." So you don't understand. This is the exact point. I do understand. No. People don't watch them in full... And this is actually what's interesting.
And please don't interrupt me on this point. Social media has changed in modern times. YouTube five years ago was five, six, seven, eight minute long videos. Now we have TikTok, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, YouTube shorts, Instagram stories. Now anything you produce that's long form is cut down to very, very short form. They're interested in clicks. They're interested in engagement. Of course. But you benefited from all that. They find the most controversial clips they can on purpose. Given that you know it can be misunderstood, do you regret saying things like this on camera
young males who think that is actually what they should be doing to women. And finally, we get to the point of the issue.
which is the point I tried to make at the very beginning. When I made a video before I was famous that got 500 views, me being concerned that 1% of people will misunderstand it,
was not relevant. You start getting 5 million views a video, 50 million views a video, 1% of people misunderstanding it. It doesn't change what you... No, it doesn't. But it becomes a much larger problem. - I understand. - So with great fame... - That's true. ...comes great responsibility. - Right. I agree. - Would I... Now that I'm famous, - Yes. - do I say things the same way as I did back before I was famous? Absolutely not. - Right. As... Neither would you or nearly any other famous person on the planet. - So my... - Once you become famous, you have to be a lot more careful with how you say things. I understand. So my logical follow-up to that remains
Do you regret, then, saying it the way you said it? I can't live in regret by saying something before I was famous on a camera which barely anybody watched, and then I became famous afterwards. That would be a very asinine way to view the world. Do you stand by all those things? I can't live in regret because I didn't know I was going to become the most famous man on the planet. Regret would be the wrong word. Is it inconvenient?
Sure, but I can't sit here and say, I wish I knew six years ago I'd be the most famous man on the planet and monitored all of my speech forever. That's asinine.
There was also, I think, quite a disturbing piece that BuzzFeed did.
And it talked about the negative impact
of young, impressable male minds when they've read...
or seen some of the more inflammatory things you've said. And they quoted, for example, Sandy, 22, from Washington. My father's gone from a man who minored in women's studies in college, who was kind and in touch with his emotions, treated all people, men and women, around him with kindness, to a man who says that whenever he sees an effeminate male stranger, he gets an overwhelming urge to murder them. He loves podcasts. He listens to a lot of podcasts. I know he's listened to Andrew Tate. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's stop for a second. Let's be professional here, Piers, because you're a professional as of my.
Did you say that my father went?
She said, "My father has gone." -Her father. That's a full-grown man, firstly. So we're talking about my impact on children. You just talked about a full-grown man here. Secondly, I've never talked about murdering effeminate men in anything online, ever.
in any context ever. So I don't know why they have taken some random person I've never met in the world who's full grown, an adult, and come to their own conclusions who I've never met and lumped his name in with mine.
That is absolutely unfair on every level. I didn't watch. I didn't read. What is your view? I didn't read this BuzzFeed article. But after hearing the first point, I know it's trash. That is complete.
Garbage. To sit and say that I'm the reason this man believes what he believes. I've seen a quote from you. I said, "The reason I am so popular and I'm so famous is that there's a large contingent of men who don't want to wear makeup
who still want to make money, go to the gym, be strong, drive a fast car, be traditionally masculine, and don't want to be shamed for that, and they don't want to be called toxic for that. That is the reason I'm so massively famous. That is what I said. What do you think of transgender people? That's nothing to do with me. I'm not transgender, and I don't understand the issue like they do. Are you transphobic? Do you consider yourself that?
Transfer what? Afraid?
Uh, well, it kind of... Yeah. You have a phobia? I don't live in fear, my friend. I have no problem... You have a dislike of transgender people? I don't know any transgender people.
Do you have a dislike of what they stand for, what they are? No. Why would I? I don't know. That's not my issue. That's not my issue. And that's actually quite interesting, because when I was attacked, a lot of these stupid articles like BuzzFeed, because it's ridiculous, that first point proves anyone with a brain knows that that's garbage. When they attacked me, they lump a whole bunch of things in together. They say misogynistic, racist, transphobic. They just put them all together at random. I'm mixed race. I don't know where they get these... They just get these buzzwords and put them in a sentence. Andrew, by the way, I completely agree. So you support transgender people?
I'm a libertarian. Yeah. So you support transgender people?
Sure. Why not? Exactly, yeah. So, but my point is, as a whole, you're saying that I'm saying I don't want to see men in dresses. I'm saying no. You support gay people. Sure. Sure.
I'm saying there's a large contingent of men in the world
who like the idea of the traditional masculine view of the world, who feel happy when they watch '80s action heroes with big muscles, -and they run around. -Yeah. And there's nothing toxically masculine about having a fast car, and a beautiful girlfriend, and making a bunch of money. -Nothing at all. -Absolutely. And those are the people who are my fans. -I agree. -And I'm saying... -But the problem is... Okay, I'm gonna interrupt you just to say this. No, no. Okay, but you're saying that I have a problem with men in dresses. I'm saying, "No, the people who watch my content..." -I've asked you that question. You've answered. -Yeah, but the people who watch my content don't wanna see men in dresses. Clearly, I don't wear a dress.
That's the point I'm making. That's not why they're watching your content. No. You're not wearing a dress. No, but that's the point I'm making. That's the point I was making. There's a large contingent of men.
who are not interested in the things that perhaps the YouTube algorithm's trying to feed them. I think there are lots of... Look, when you support masculinity and masculine traits, I'm with you, right? Okay, so you agree a man should protect and provide for a woman? Absolutely. Okay, so you agree if you were walking down the street with a woman, you'd be responsible with her safety?
-Uh, yeah. -Cool, absolutely. So if that woman wanted to walk alone... I don't think I have authority over the woman as we do that. Okay, so let me ask you another question, Piers, 'cause we are professionals. Let's say your woman decided she wanted to take a nice little walk through the south side of Chicago at 2:00 a.m., and she wanted you to go with her, and you were responsible for fighting and dying on the spot if she was attacked. Don't you think you would say to her, "No, we're not going out right now. It's not safe."
Yes. OK, so you'd have authority to make the decision. - No, I wouldn't. - So we agree. - I would say, I don't think you should. - So we agree. If she decides to, it's her own volition. Well, if she decides you're not gonna stop her... - I have no power to stop her. - Completely. - But you think you do. - No, I don't think I have power to stop her. - You clearly do. - No, I think I have power to make the decision. I think, no, that's not sensible. So if you have the power to make the decision, you have the power to stop her. - No, because... And that's where we differ. That's why I think it's interesting about you.
I don't think you really think through what you're saying. I think through what I'm saying so carefully. Andrew, what you've literally just said,
is that you have the power to stop her. No, I said I don't have the power to stop her. I'm not going to lock her in the room. I'm saying that... So if she wants to go on her own... Then she's going to go. Then you don't have authority to stop her. Okay, but as a couple, if we're going to sit there and decide if we're going to take this... You asked me, Dorvis, would I feel a sense of responsibility for her safety? Absolutely. Oh, agreed. Absolutely. So, let me finish, Piers. Would I have the power or authority to stop her doing it? No, no. No, of course not. So let me finish, Piers. You're not going to stop her walking out the hotel. Of course, it's her decision. She's a sovereign individual. My point is that usually in a couple, people have...
there as a team and you discuss. And perhaps on certain issues, the woman will know more about X and she'll decide X and the man might know more about Y and he'll decide Y. So I'm saying if we're as a couple and we're sitting there and deciding as a couple, as a team, and she says she wants to take this late night stroll, I'm going to say, you know what, I'm going to veto this one. I'm going to call vetoing it because it's dangerous. Which to a degree would give me, in that particular scenario, a degree of authority? If she said, I don't want to listen to you, Andrew. It doesn't give you authority. If she says, I don't want to listen to you, Andrew, I want to go on that walk, then what can I do? Then you don't have authority. I wish you the best, my love. Then you don't have authority.
It's a semantic argument. Not really. I think it is. It's the complete opposite of what you said you had, which was authority. No problem, Piers.
No problem. But I think we actually... Let me ask you about... What do you believe about depression? Do you believe depression is a real thing? I believe that feeling depressed is real. I don't believe depression as a clinical disease is real, no. Really?
- Correct. - You don't believe people can be clinically depressed? I think PTSD is very real. Unfortunately, I have some friends who suffer from that. I know that feeling depressed is real.
I BELIEVE THAT THE NUMBER ONE POWER YOU HAVE AGAINST THESE THINGS ARE TRYING TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN MIND AND AFFECTING YOUR OWN LIFE.
I believe that it's not healthy to hand over all your power and believe that depression is an outside disease that you can't affect. I know that when I've had difficult periods in my life and also many of my friends, like I've said, suffered from PTSD and been through terrible things.
I've lived a very difficult life, and I know people who have, that the things that made them feel better is when they woke up and said, "You know what? I'm not gonna allow this to damage me anymore. I'm gonna take responsibility. I'm gonna get up, and I'm gonna fight this as hard as I can." Right. And by the way, on that,
I agree. So we agree. My favorite speech is the Rocky Balboa one. Okay, so then we agree. Okay, well, let me explain why. If someone comes to me and says, I'm clinically depressed, or I feel very, very sad, I would say the first thing you need to do is stop accepting the identity of a clinically depressed person. Stop accepting you have no control over this. And what you need to do is stop identifying that way, and let's work together to try and fight against it. There isn't an eminent doctor in the world who would tell you there is no such thing as clinical depression. Who would not tell you that some people is simply beyond their control. I think Johan Hari wrote a book.
Saying exactly that, my friend. He's not an eminent doctor. No, but I said depression wasn't real long ago and was attacked for it. Then Johan Hari wrote a book, which actually... What's he going to do with Johan Hari? Because he wrote a book proving me right. Most people... Johan Hari's a journalist. Sure. And my point is that a lot of people who are clinically depressed are suffering with something in their life, and if you fix the problem in their life, perhaps they won't feel depressed anymore. That's not a disease. No, but, Andrew... That's situational. Andrew, you're simply wrong.
If that's what you believe, Piers, it's not. -I believe. -I don't believe in things that take power away from. There is not an eminent doctor in the world... -Piers. -...that would agree with you.
Do you think you know more than doctors? I can't become clinically depressed.
Why do you know? Because I don't believe in it.
I can't be haunted by a ghost if I don't believe in ghosts. Well, that's like saying I'm never going to die because I don't believe in it. It's ridiculous. Perhaps. But if it allows me to live a life where I feel happy and contented within myself... Again, this is that little area where you lose me. No, I don't lose you. You are, because somebody with your following says... The thousands of people, the thousands of people who have emailed me saying, my doctor told me I was clinically depressed and it's a disease that I have got in my brain and I can't be fixed. And I started listening to you and I realised that that's not the case and I can fix my own life and you're the only person who has ever helped me.
-You can email me that exact email. -If you think... If you think you are single-handedly curing people of clinical depression, you are living in cloud cuckoo land. I am reading the emails of people who I have cured of clinical depression. You're reading emails from people who... I-I respect that you think my view is dangerous, and I respect you have the right to view that, to think that.
I think that clinical depression, I actually agree with you, is massively overdiagnosed. I've already said that PTSD is a very real thing. -I've already said that. -I didn't-- Oh, hang on. -Okay. -Again, you misquoted me. I did not say clinical depression is massively overdiagnosed. I said that people who claim to be depressed
but don't have clinical depression. I believe feeling depressed is real.
I do not believe it's a disease that you catch from the sky and you cannot affect. I believe that no matter what happens, I believe you have control of your own mind and you can fight against it. I believe if you change your circumstances in your life, you may feel different. I'll give you a quick example. I had a guy who emailed me saying he was clinically depressed and he was going to kill himself. I obviously am not a psychiatrist. I'm not a doctor. I told him, because I replied to my emails. I said, have you been to a psychiatrist? He said, yes, I'm clinically depressed. I've been on these pills this amount of time. I've been on antidepressants. It doesn't work. I said, I don't know what to say to you besides this.
And he said he lost his girlfriend, that's why he became clinically depressed. I said, "Listen, go to the gym.
Get a six pack first. Once you've got a six pack, email me again.
If you still feel like killing yourself, I don't know what else to say to you. But I'd say, strong body is a strong mind. Go train. He went. He started sending me progress pictures, emailing me him, getting in better, better shape. And eventually got a six-pack. He's now a professional bodybuilder.
And he said, I can't believe I was considering that. I feel so much better, et cetera. The doctor was telling him he was clinically depressed and couldn't cure it.
He started taking control of his own life, and now he felt better. - Have you seen him? - Now, I'm not saying it's the case for everybody. - No. - I'm just saying... - That's my question. - Influence over people. - Disagree. It's very responsible, because I'm saving people's lives. I disagree that if you're... If you feel depressed, I disagree that you cannot affect it and change your life and take control and fix yourself and feel happier.
I disagree with that. I refuse to accept that there are people out there who cannot become happy, contented individuals. I refuse to accept we live in a world where God has created people who, no matter how hard they work and how good their life becomes, can't be happy. I don't accept that. I accept that the universe is a very giving place and that God loves all of us. And if you try your best and you work hard, you can become a better person. And I also will argue with you, and I'll counter the point, that you sitting here on your platform telling people they have
Okay, well then, if they have clinical depression... Why do you misquote me? No, because you're saying... You hate being misquoted. No, you're saying if people have clinical depression, then they have a disease. I don't understand what you do about it. They go to a doctor, and they get diagnosed, and they get help. Then I would argue the point that somebody... It's the opposite of what you just said I said. I would argue the point that if somebody has depression of any kind, whether it's clinical, whether it exists or not, whether they feel depressed or not, whatever, that taking control of their life, taking personal responsibility and working hard is always going to be the positive, best thing they can possibly do for their life going forward. How positive is it? So sit in here saying, I don't believe in clinical depression, you don't believe in depression. No, I don't.
to take control and fight against things. I believe in personal sovereignty.
Fine.
Good. So we agree. No, we don't. Yes, we do. Do you support his right to speak about things like Sandy Hook? I don't know Sandy Hook. I don't know. You know what it was. It was a mass shooting.
of schoolchildren. OK, but to sit and...
It's actually, no, no, let's stop for a second. Please don't interrupt me.
Here's why you're... I know why you're good at your job. First, you interrupt people a lot, which is good. It's a good skill. And then there you go. Prove me right. I've also done podcasts with rabid leftists and people who openly hate me. Is it wrong? I do a podcast circuit. And I don't know everything he's ever said. When somebody like that... So I don't know what you're trying to get me here because I did a podcast. If you let me get a word in, Edgway's, I'll tell you. It's a lame trick. If you let me get a word in, I will tell you. Let's go.
of online content. The coroner said she was exposed to material that may have influenced her in a negative way and in addition what started as depression had become a much more serious depressive illness and she very sadly took her life. That's absolutely disgusting. Right. Her father's campaign for better protections against potentially dangerous social media algorithms. It says that the particularly graphic content she saw romanticized acts of self-harm, normalized her condition and focused on a limited and irrational
view without any counterbalance of normality.
First of all, what is your response to that?
Nothing to do with you. I'll just ask you what your response is. That's the first thing, yeah. It is nothing to do with me. The fact that a 14-year-old girl took her life is truly sad. The world we live in today...
is
Thank you.
The fact that something like that happened is almost mind-blowing to me. That's truly sad. I actually feel sad inside to see something like that. The fact that they just said it's romanticizing the gory element. I don't know what she was watching, some kind of suicide...
I don't know where these things are created. Do you think the tech companies should be much tougher about stuff like this?
I don't know what kind of things she watched, obviously. I have to be a professional here. I think that the tech companies need to do their best to protect people, I guess, to a degree. But it's a slippery slope, isn't it? And then they use--
this slippery slope to silence some people and to... Right, and I think it's a really fine line. It is. It's a complicated line. It is. Very fine. I was interested, when you did an interview with The Times, crossed that line. No, I haven't, and this is the thing, and I've been vilified not because of the things I say, because much more extremist content already exists on the Internet. I think the reason I've been attacked and vilified is because of the popularity, because I became so massively famous, not because of what I was actually saying. So, as a professional, I analyze that, and I understand, okay, I'm massively famous now, and certain things have been taken out of context.
IN THE WORLD.
And I'm not gonna sit here and say... - Have you changed, though? I don't... It's not about changing. Well, it is. We're all involved in evolution. - How old are you now? - I'm 36. 36, right? I bet you're a different person to what you were when you were 26. - Oh, that's... - And 16, right? - And 16. - That's absolutely a fact. - So we all changed.