Andrew Tate not nabbed through pizza connection

Bucharest has confirmed that Andrew Tate has been arrested on human trafficking charges but reiterated that one widely reported detail was inaccurate.

A popular tweet read…

“Romanian authorities needed proof that Andrew Tate was in the country so they reportedly used his social media posts. His ridiculous video yesterday featured a pizza from a Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, confirming he was in the country. This is absolutely epic.”

Some had speculated that officials had been tipped off to Tate’s whereabouts by a pizza box seen in a video directed at climate activist Greta Thunberg. But DIICOT, Romania’s agency against organised crime, told The Associated Press that that wasn’t the case.

DIICOT spokesperson Ramona Bolla said…

“Funny, but no,”

Tate and his brother Tristan, both British-US citizens, were detained along with two others on Thursday and face charges of rape, human trafficking and being members of an organised crime group.

Romanian prosecutors said…

“The four suspects … appear to have created an organised-crime group to recruit, housing and exploit women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost,” prosecutors said.

Tate, 36 years old, is genuinely a 21st-century man. A former kickboxer and reality TV failure, Tate is a “social-media personality,” whatever that means. His popularity arises mostly from his comments about women, including that women “must bare [sic] some responsibility” for being raped.

The social media personality somehow manages to retain his fame despite having been booted off most social-media platforms. But Tate is more welcome on Twitter since Elon Musk reinstated his account in the name of preserving free speech.

And that’s where Greta Thunberg comes in.

On Tuesday, Tate tweeted at Thunberg, bragging about his cars and asking her to provide her email address…

“so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”

Hello @GretaThunberg

I have 33 cars.

My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo.

My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s.

This is just the start.

Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions. pic.twitter.com/ehhOBDQyYU

— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 27, 2022

Thunberg replied…

“Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com.”

In response, Tate posted a video in which he wears a robe, smokes a cigar and gets handed two pizza boxes, which he specifies will not be recycled.

News of Tate’s arrest broke shortly after he posted the video, and reports started swirling that his post and the arrest were related.

Baseless assertions that the tweet and the arrest were related quickly emerged.

The pizza boxes bore the name of the Romanian chain Jerry’s Pizza, which the Twitterati claimed had alerted authorities that he was in the country. The story appears to have originated with Romanian news outlet Gândul, which cited anonymous sources who said the Tate brothers were located in Romania through their posts. However, the Gândul story did not mention pizza boxes, which was far from the only recent post indicating Tate was in the country.

But even if their Twitter spat had nothing to do with Tate’s arrest, Thunberg nevertheless had an additional comment on Friday.

“This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” she wrote.