Internet celebrity Andrew Tate started a Twitter battle with 19-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg on December 27, 2022. He is probably regretting that life decision now, because it alerted Romanian authorities to his location. They detained him on charges relating to alleged involvement in human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime group.
The tweet that started it all was sent by Andrew unprompted. He wanted to make sure Greta was aware of how many cars he had and how they were negatively affecting the environment. He even requested her email address so he could give her his full inventory of cars, as Twitter limits the amount of characters one can send.
Greta was happy to oblige this email request. She snarkily told Andrew her email address was “[email protected].” Andrew could not let her get the last word on this one.
This prompted Andrew to record a two-minute, cigar-smoke-filled video rant. In this video, he tells someone off camera to bring him pizza and to make sure to not recycle the boxes. These Jerry’s Pizza boxes were reportedly the clue that led authorities to know Andrew was in Romania and secure his detainment.
When news broke about his detainment, the internet was quick to put two and two together. People collectively realized Greta was responsible for the arrest and were quick to congratulate the teen. She responded with her signature dry wit. “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” she wrote.
Twitter users were both astonished and amused at this surreal situation. One user wrote: “Came here for climate justice. Stayed here for climate justice and comedy gold.”
Another chimed in: “Frantically googling how to nominate someone for Nobel prize for a second time.”
“Andrew Tate owns 33 gas guzzling cars he soon won’t be able to drive, but you’ll own him for eternity,” wrote another user.
One user called it what it is: “Oh this is a very satisfying clap back .”
One cannot please everyone all the time. There were some users who were critical of Greta.
Andrew and his brother were detained on Friday, December 30, 2022, along with two unnamed Romanians. Their initial hold was for 24 hours, but that has been extended to 30 days while the investigation continues. Andrew’s lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, plans to appeal this decision, telling journalists, “From our perspective, there are no grounds for taking the most drastic preventive measures provided by the criminal procedure code.”
