Guy Fieri is coming forward to set the record straight amidst a backlash that followed the viral video of him greeting controversial "manosphere" influencer brothers, Andrew and Tristan Tate, at UFC 327 in Miami on Saturday night. In the footage, Fieri is seen shaking hands with the brothers, giving Andrew a shoulder bump, and briefly engaging in conversation. However, the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host insists that the interaction was simply a matter of politeness and that he was unaware of their identity at the time.
"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," Fieri wrote on X on Tuesday. "I was there to watch the fights, and as I was walking through the venue, the Tate brothers stood up and said hello. That's when the exchange took place."
He continued: "I did not know them or anything about them before that moment. 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 former kickboxers who gained a massive online following by sharing hyper-masculine and misogynistic content. Andrew Tate first rose to prominence on the U.K. reality show Big Brother in 2016 but was removed after just six days after footage surfaced that appeared to show him attacking a woman.
The brothers, who were born in the United States but moved to the United Kingdom as children, hold dual citizenship. They are currently under criminal investigation in Britain and Romania. In the U.S., they have been under investigation by Homeland Security anti-trafficking agents and federal prosecutors since 2023, according to The New York Times. They were charged with 21 crimes in the U.K., including rape, actual bodily harm, and human trafficking. Recently, Reuters reported that a Romanian court lifted all preventative judicial control measures as investigations continue, and the brothers have denied all wrongdoing.
