YouTuber Lauren Southern Accuses Andrew Tate Of Sexual Assault

Canadian YouTuber Lauren Southern has accused influencer Andrew Tate of sexual assault in her new self-published memoir.

In her upcoming book, “This Is Not Real Life,” Southern claims she met Tate in 2018 at the age of 22, according to excerpts she posted on her Substack page on Tuesday. She states that she was not putting the excerpts behind a paywall because “they weren’t written with the intention of profiting off this incident.”

Southern wrote about a 2028 trip to Romania with British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, whom Southern said told her that wealthy crypto investors in Eastern Europe might be interested in sponsoring a media project.

She alleges that she met Tate and his brother, Tristan, and they all went to dinner. Afterward, the Tates drove them to what looked like a “generic industrial warehouse.”

“But when the giant black gate rolled open, it revealed a scene that would’ve been obvious to me as a criminal operation if I had any clue how the world worked. We were greeted by a glowing blue pool surrounded by luxury cars as we stepped onto the tiled entrance,” Southern said.

Southern assumed “the whole thing was a bust” after the group’s presentation flopped, writing, “We returned to our hotel in Bucharest feeling dejected, embarrassed, and unsure of where to go from here.”

However, Southern wrote she was told that she had impressed others at the meeting, “and the deal is still on if you’re willing to meet with them before you leave tomorrow and sort out the details.”

“They sent a car for me, and we headed back to the compound where the same group of men were waiting,” she wrote, as she began detailing the allegations:

“This is boring. Let’s go somewhere more exciting,” Andrew snapped while pacing. Tristan and the others agreed. Now, I was naive, but I wasn’t that much of an idiot. I asked again when we’d discuss business and where exactly they wanted to go. “To the club. It’s just around the block; we can take the cars. It’ll be fun. We’ll discuss business there.” …

“Hey, I’d rather not go out unless Tommy and the boys are coming too,” I said, trying to keep it light. “I’ve already texted them. We’re sending a car now,” Andrew replied assuredly, with a twinkle in his eye. Well, my excuse was gone.

… I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was still on autopilot, lacking a strong sense of self, easily swayed by the smallest bit of pressure. The most dangerous thing a young woman can be is a pushover. …

We hadn’t even there [at the club] that long, and I hadn’t drunk much, but something was wrong. My body wasn’t listening to me. The world was dimming, and I couldn’t stop it. … Eventually, I found myself crawling onto a couch at the back of the club, my eyelids fluttering closed.

… Then Andrew was there again, lifting me up and carrying me through the dim hallway, my feet barely touching the ground, the bass of the music still shaking my body. …

I’d rather not give a detailed account, so I’ll keep it simple. He carried me back to the hotel room and asked me to sleep beside him. I said yes. I was incredibly intoxicated, and some part of me convinced myself that because he was Tommy’s friend he wasn’t particularly dangerous. It was a poor decision, but it happened. He kissed me. I wasn’t expecting it, and I wasn’t looking for it, but I kissed him back briefly and then told him I wanted to sleep. I was extraordinarily tired. He wanted to go further. 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. I’d prefer not to share the rest. It’s pretty obvious.

“I went to a women’s hospital and had a report made around a week after the event,” Southern alleges. “The report documented my account of asphyxiation, five years before Vice News would report in 2023 that Tate used the same method on other victims in the UK in 2015.”

Tate, through an attorney, said he “unequivocally repudiates the pathetic filth peddled” by his latest accuser. The masculinity influencer has similarly denied other accusations against him.

“No evidence supports her claims,” Tate’s lawyer continues. “The so-called ‘free’ chapter release is nothing but an evil marketing ploy: a sensational teaser engineered to propel sales of her book by parasitizing Andrew’s fame.”

Southern said telling the story is not an attempt to market her book.

“They were written because they’re part of my story, and they’re true,” Southern writes. “If you’re here just to read about Tate or think this is some kind of selling point, please don’t buy the book. You won’t find anything more significant about him in its pages beyond what’s already here for free.”

Noting that others had spoken about the incident already, she said that many intended to “purvey a distorted version of these events, not just to get ahead of the narrative, but to undermine other witnesses and other legitimate cases of assault and trafficking.”

“I cannot remain silent when my story is being twisted and used as a tool to discredit others. It would be unjust not to set the record straight,” she wrote.

“Years later, she would read a Vice News report about how Tate had been arrested on suspicion of rape in the U.K. in 2015, with one alleged victim telling the outlet that Tate had strangled her on multiple occasions, and that she’d seen him choke other women some 10 times,” Rolling Stone reported. “Southern found this claim of repeated asphyxiations consistent with her own story.”