Food Network star Guy Fieri, facing a social-media backlash over his friendly greeting of controversial “manosphere” influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate at a recent UFC fight, released a statement about the exchange — in which he claimed he doesn’t actually know them and does not support them “in any way.”
In video and photos shared on social media, the celebrity TV chef was seen embracing the brothers at UFC 327 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, April 11 (a fight also attended by President Donald Trump). In one video clip posted by BroBible sports editor Jorge Alonso, Fieri is seen shaking hands with Andrew Tate and bumping shoulders with him.
Fieri, in a post on X Tuesday, wrote: “I’m seeing all of your comments about the photo from Saturday’s UFC event and all I can say is that I’m devastated. I was there to see the fights and when I was walking through the venue, the Tate brothers stood up and said hello and that’s when the exchanged happened. I did not know them or about them before that moment.”
Fieri added: “I’ll never pretend to be a perfect person but let me be crystal clear, I do not know the Tate brothers nor do I support them in any way.”
Andrew and Tristan Tate are under criminal investigation in multiple countries, including in the U.K., where the brothers are facing criminal charges of rape and trafficking, according to the New York Times. Earlier this month, a court in Romania lifted “all preventative judicial control measures against” the Tate brothers Tristan “pending a criminal investigation on accusations of human trafficking, among others,” Reuters reported.
The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers with dual U.S.-British citizenship, have denied all wrongdoing in the criminal charges. Andrew Tate is a “self-described misogynist” who has “gained millions of online fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women,” per the Reuters report.
Fieri, who has been affiliated with Food Network since 2006, is the host of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games” and he also guest judges on “Food Network Star,” according to the network’s bio for him.
Pictured above: Guy Fieri attends UFC 327 on April 11 in Miami
