The Mayor of Flavortown is busy putting out fires today.
Everyone knows – and most everyone loves – the great Guy Fieri. The celebrity chef and host of Guy’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Triple D’s for the real ones out there) is an American icon. He’s also an entrepreneur, and on occasion, likes to take in a Zach Bryan concert, or a UFC fight.
There’s nothing wrong with liking combat sports, and to be clear, that’s not what has landed Fieri in hot water. Instead, it was something that happened at UFC327 in Miami, Florida this past weekend. Video on social media shows Guy Fieri meeting controversial influencer Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, that sparked some outrage.
Here it is, in case you haven’t seen it:
Andrew Tate is certainly a polarizing figure. Tate has gained fame by pushing a so-called alpha male lifestyle, which is basically just being a scumbag and treating women like trash. He’s been involved in various legal controversies, including sexual assault and rape allegations, and he even describes himself as a misogynist. There are also allegations of human trafficking and organized crime… so generally that’s not the type of person that most celebrities want to be associated with.
So when fans of Guy Fieri saw the food icon (and Mayor of Flavortown) interacting with Tate, they became very upset, which prompted Fieri to put out this apology separating himself from Andrew Tate and his brother:
“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. 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.”
We’ve officially reached the point in society where you have to apologize for meeting a complete stranger. Pretty wild, isn’t it?
When the initial photo and video of Guy Fieri and Andrew Tate hit the internet, fans were even calling out the Food Network to discipline their star. Imagine calling for someone’s job for, once again… meeting a complete stranger. Others said they’d never watch any of Fieri’s shows again, and that they no longer considered themselves fans of the restauranter. Perhaps he should’ve been more aware of who he was talking to, but at a UFC event with hundreds of celebrities shaking hands and rubbing elbows, what is Guy, who is universally loved by just about everyone, including lots of other celebrities, supposed to do… pause and Google it? You know how many people probably come up to Guy at any given event? Making no apologies for Andrew Tate, but let’s all calm down, eh?
Unfortunately, many social media users are still responding that way, even to this apology that Fieri posted. Some are even citing his previous, friendly interactions with President Donald Trump. But others are trusting that the host of Guy’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is telling the truth, and that he was just trying to be friendly, and wouldn’t have interacted with the Tate brothers like that if he had known who they were.
