Food Network star Guy Fieri, facing social media backlash for friendly greeting controversial Manosphere influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate at a recent UFC bout, released a statement about the interaction, claiming he doesn’t actually know them and doesn’t support them “in any way.”
Videos and photos shared on social media show them hugging their brothers at UFC 327 on Saturday, April 11, at Caseya Center in Miami, Florida (President Donald Trump was also in attendance). One video clip posted by BroBible sports editor Jorge Alonso shows Fieri shaking hands with Andrew Tate and bumping shoulders.
Fieri wrote in an X Tuesday post, “I’ve been reading all of your comments about the photos from Saturday’s UFC event and all I can say is I’m devastated. I went to the fight and as I was walking through the venue, the Tate brothers stood up and said hello. That’s when the exchange happened. I didn’t know them or anything about them until that moment.”
Fieri added: “I don’t pretend to be a perfect person by any means, but let me be clear: I don’t know the Tate brothers and I’m not endorsing them in any way.”
According to the New York Times, Andrew and Tristan Tate are under criminal investigation in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, where the brothers are facing criminal charges of rape and human trafficking. Earlier this month, a Romanian court “lifted all preventive judicial control measures” against the Tate brother Tristan “pending criminal investigation, including human trafficking charges,” Reuters reported.
The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers with dual American and British citizenship, deny all wrongdoing in the criminal charges. Reuters reports that Andrew Tate is a “self-proclaimed misogynist” who has “amassed millions of online fans by promoting a hypermasculine lifestyle that critics say despises women.”
Mr. Fieri has been with Food Network since 2006, and is the host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games,” as well as a guest judge on “Food Network Star,” according to his bio on the network.
Photo above: Guy Fieri attends UFC 327 in Miami on April 11th.
