How a Twitter battle with Greta Thunberg led to Andrew Tate’s arrest

Controversial influencer and former kickboxer Andrew Tate and climate activist Greta Thunberg’s epic spat on Twitter ended with the dramatic arrest of Tate on Friday. So, what was this spat about and how did it lead to Tate’s arrest? Read on to find out.

How did the war of words begin?

It was Tate who started the battle by posting a tweet to taunt the 19-year-old climate activist on Tuesday (December 27). In the sarcastic tweet, he boasted that he had 33 cars and asked for Thunberg’s email address so that he could he could list their massive carbon emissions.

“Hello @GretaThunberg, I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions,” he tweeted.

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Greta’s epic reply

The firebrand Thunberg hit back the next day with her trademark savage response on Twitter, “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com.” The slang is used for petty, insecure people who bully others to cover it up.

Tate could have ended the battle there but, of course, his pride had been hurt. So, he went a step ahead this time and shared a video on Thursday, in which he makes fun of Thunberg. And it was this video that got him arrested.

So, how did the video lead to Tate’s arrest?

In the video, Tate asks someone to hand him a box of pizza and boasts how he would not recycle it. Call it the revenge of the pizza box if you will, but it was what gave his location away.

According to The Independent, Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism had been waiting for nine months for the Tate brothers to return to Romania. All they needed was proof that Tate was in the country.

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The pizza box featured in the video was from a popular Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, which confirmed he was in the country. They raided his villa at once and picked up Tate.

He has been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime gang.

Greta’s final dig

Thunberg had already won the battle. But she put a final nail on the coffin of Tate’s pride by posting a brief tweet on Friday, “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”

Netizens could not help but bow to her ready wit. “You took 33 cars off the road with one tweet. Respect,” read one tweet.

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“Never underestimate the power of THE pizza box,” read another.

Someone wrote, “I want to be you when I grow up.”

Finally, one Twitter user reminded everyone, “Now if people listened to Greta about what she says about climate crisis as much as bagging bad guys we’d live in a better world.”