Lauren Southern Accuses Andrew Tate of Strangulation and Assault in Shocking Memoir Revelation

16 July 2025

In a startling and deeply personal expose published in her forthcoming memoir This Is Not Real Life, Canadian content creator and former alt‑right activist Lauren Southern has accused controversial influencer Andrew Tate of sexually assaulting and choking her unconscious during a trip to Bucharest in 2018. In gripping detail released on her Substack and via selected excerpts shared freely, Southern says what began as a “charming” dinner devolved into a terrifying ordeal when Tate allegedly drugged her at a nightclub and carried her, incapacitated, back to her hotel room. Once there, she asserts that he forced himself on her despite her repeated refusals and proceeded to choke her until she blacked out resuming the act each time she attempted to escape awareness.

At 30, Southern recounts the traumatic incident with unflinching clarity. She admits initially consenting to a brief kiss but made it unmistakably clear that she wanted to stop. According to her memoir, Tate ignored her boundaries. “He put his arm around my neck and began strangling me unconscious,” she writes. The memory of each moment he tightened his grip haunted her long after, fueling a decision to exit both the encounter and her alignment with far‑right movements.

Southern chose to publish the allegations free of charge, explaining that she wanted to avoid personal profit from her trauma and highlight that reports from others reinforced her own experience. She claims that similar accounts of assault by Tate convinced her to distance herself from the ideology and people she once supported.

Tate, who is already fighting multiple legal battles across the UK and Romania, strongly denies Southern’s claims. His attorney dismisses them as a “defamatory publicity stunt” and warns that legal recourse will follow. The statement accuses Southern of engaging in a broader agenda targeting public figures, a reference to a series of lawsuits from previous accusers.

Adding complexity, far‑right activist Tommy Robinson, who was reportedly accompanying Southern in Bucharest, claimed he saw the couple together and appearing affectionate the next morning. The detail shared via a video posted by Robinson has not received a direct response from Southern.

These accusations arrive against a backdrop of mounting legal scrutiny of Tate. He currently faces rape and human trafficking charges in Romania and the UK, as well as ongoing investigations in the U.S. over allegations including sexual assault and money laundering . Southern’s account may add serious weight to the case against him, particularly within cultural conversations about power, consent, and exploitation in high-profile influencer circles.

The responses to Southern’s revelation have been varied and intense. Some applaud her bravery in sharing such a personal story, especially given the risk of further public scrutiny. Others question the timing and veracity, viewing it through a political lens given her past public profile. Yet the memoir’s unfiltered emotional weight and corroborated parallels from other alleged survivors are fueling broader discussion on accountability even among those previously aligned with the manosphere.

Southern’s departure from far‑right politics in recent years underscores the personal impact of the event she describes. In interviews, she has acknowledged that discovering a pattern of alleged abuse within that movement made her rethink her own path . This revelation casts a harsh new light on the echo chambers that once surrounded her online presence, amplifying questions about how survivors and truth intersect in polarized environments.

For Tate, the stakes are high. His legal team has vowed to pursue defamation claims and deny wrongdoing. The broader question now is how Southern’s testimony might influence courtroom proceedings and public perception. With multiple accusers already emerging and formal investigations underway, this memoir chapter may represent another turning point in an ongoing reckoning with influencer‑led misogyny and abuse.

As This Is Not Real Life prepares for publication, the dialogue around consent, power and media influencers is intensifying. Southern’s story adds a sharp emotional resonance to already serious legal issues facing Tate. It also invites a reckoning with how personal trauma intersects with the rise and fall of digital celebrity in the 21st century.