Environmentalist Greta Thunberg expertly trolled right-wing influencer Andrew Tate after a pizza box in a video he posted in a Twitter response to her led to his arrest in Romania on sex trafficking and rape charges.
Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested at Tate's private villa; police officers also arrested a former policewoman whose involvement had been suspected for some time.
All three are in the custody of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DICOT), a Romanian agency tasked with investigating and prosecuting organized crime and terrorism-related offenses.
A theory emerged online that authorities were only able to ascertain Tate's location when he posted a response video to Thunberg after she shut down his request for her email address while bragging about his car collection's "enormous emissions." Spokeswoman for DICOT, Ramona Bolla, denies any connection between the pizza box and Tate's arrest.
Tate mocked Thunberg for having a "small penis" after she responded to his request with an email address directed at his "small dick energy."
\u201cyes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1672225626
However, reports indicated that authorities were able to find his location because he unwittingly displayed a pizza box from a local Romanian pizza chain.
\u201cThank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg \n\nThe world was curious. \n\nAnd I do agree you should get a life \u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Andrew Tate (@Andrew Tate) 1672262783
The news of Tate's arrest inspired Thunberg to write the following savage response:
"This is what happens when you don't recycle your pizza boxes."
\u201cthis is what happens when you don\u2019t recycle your pizza boxes\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1672387518
It was an epic and witty response from someone known for environmental and climate justice activism—and people couldn't get enough.
\u201cthe man is seeing stars and she\u2019s still throwing punches\u201d— slate (@slate) 1672426145
\u201cAnd she's still owning him. Love it.\u201d— The Great Gig in the Sky (@The Great Gig in the Sky) 1672417575
\u201cGod I love this woman.\u201d— Katie Hill (@Katie Hill) 1672418939
\u201cDon't mess with Greta.\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1672420750
\u201cWe may not experience something this good on the internet ever again\u201d— Aaron Levie (@Aaron Levie) 1672421125
\u201cWooo weee she landed another solid blow to that goofy punk!! TKO \ud83d\udd25\u201d— Antifa witch (@Antifa witch) 1672419026
\u201cThe winner of this week\u2019s maxi AND mini challenge \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffc\u201d— Jackie Cox (@Jackie Cox) 1672416819
Tate is accused of "forming an organized criminal group that used girls for adult videos," and DICOT said its officers raided five homes tied to four suspects who sequestered at least six women captive in houses in the Bucharest metropolitan area.
The women were sexually assaulted and forced to produce pornographic videos while in captivity.
Tate's arrest comes months after his home was first raided by DICOT agents after the United States embassy alerted them an American woman might be held at the property.
In April 2022, investigators discovered two women on the property who claimed they were being held there against their will, kicking off an investigation into possible human trafficking and rape.
The Tate brothers were released in April after several hours of questioning. Tate denied any wrongdoing.
The Romanian authorities later stated Tate—who rose to fame as a kickboxer before aligning himself with the far-right—was not arrested because of the pizza box in his video, though they did not elaborate further on why the investigation that began in April culminated in an arrest at this time.
CORRECTION: The header and body of the article have been updated to reflect DICOT's statement denying any connection between the pizza box in Tate's video and his arrest.
@GavinNewsom/X
