The claim about the alleged assault is the latest against Andrew Tate (right), who alongside his brother Tristan has been charged with rape. Photo / Getty Images
The claim about the alleged assault is the latest against Andrew Tate (right), who alongside his brother Tristan has been charged with rape. Photo / Getty Images
Andrew Tate has been accused of sexually assaulting a far-right influencer who was once prevented from speaking in New Zealand.
Lauren Southern, a Canadian YouTuber, alleges that she was strangled by the self-proclaimed misogynist and pleaded for him to stop his sexual advances after a night out in Romania.
Southern,30, said she was introduced to Tate during a trip to Bucharest with activist Tommy Robinson, where the pair were exploring funding for a media startup.
In 2018, the year of the alleged incident, she was refused entry to the UK on the grounds of her involvement “in the distribution of racist material in Luton” after handing out flyers that read “Allah is a gay god” outside a restaurant in the town centre. Southern, who has 700,000 subscribers on YouTube, claimed it was part of a “social experiment” video.
The sexual assault claim is the latest against Tate, who, alongside his brother Tristan, has been charged with rape and other offences.
In her memoir, This is Not Real Life, Southern recounts how Tate, now 38, drove her to a steakhouse in his “polished sports car”, where he complimented her work and came across as “flirtatious” and “charming”. Although she admitted to enjoying the conversations, she said things eventually started to “feel off”.
She claims that she and Robinson’s video team were later taken to the Tates’ compound, but the meeting to discuss a potential new right-wing media company went nowhere.
Canadian YouTuber Lauren Southern met Tate during a visit to Romania with Tommy Robinson. Photo / @laurencheriie via Instagram
Southern, alongside her team, returned to their hotel, only to be messaged by the Tates, who wished to meet her again. When she returned to the compound, Tate demanded to take a photo with her, where he posed with a hand around her waist. The brothers then took her to a nightclub, assuring Southern that cars would be sent to bring Robinson and the video team, but her travelling partners never arrived.
She claims that she began to feel drunk after drinking a cocktail and a shot of liquor, and was carried to the bathroom, where she vomited. Tate then allegedly drove her back to her hotel, where he carried her to her room.
Southern, who was “incredibly intoxicated”, was asked by Tate to sleep beside him on the bed, at which point he suddenly kissed her.
“I kissed him back briefly and then told him I wanted to sleep,” she said. “I said no, very clearly, multiple times, and tried to pull his hands off me.
“He put his arm around my neck and began strangling me unconscious. I tried to fight back. He repeatedly strangled me every time I regained enough consciousness to pull at his arms,” she claims. “I’d prefer not to share the rest. It’s pretty obvious.”
In response to the allegations, Tate wrote on X: “Chooses the chapter about me to release ‘for free’ to get attention so she can sell her memoirs of promiscuity. Coincidence I’m sure.
“I’m glad you admit you’re a drug addict in this post, that might explain why you forgot about all the txts you sent begging to see me again.”
In a reply to another X user, Tate wrote: “Was 10 years ago. Needs book sales I guess.” He also said he would “release the txts of her begging for money for her ‘company’ and begging to see me again”.
The Tate brothers are set to return to the UK to face more than 20 charges of rape and human trafficking. Andrew Tate faces 10 charges, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, relating to three women.
Tristan, 36, faces 11 charges relating to one woman, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
