Nick Kyrgios has sparked controversy again, this time for supporting controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, who has been accused of human trafficking and rape.
Kyrgios shared a Valentine’s Day post from Tate that read, “What is love but obsession?” Kyrgios shared the post with his own caption: ‘I agree. Talking about the facts as always.’
However, fans were quick to criticize Kyrgios for his comments, due to Tate’s history of misogynistic views and alleged hate speech on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘Please tell me you’re not bragging to a misogynistic loser like Tate?!?!? Wow,” a fan posted on X.
“Bro please control yourself,” another fan posted.
“Your PR guy should step in,” another suggested.
Kyrgios has upset his followers by aligning himself with controversial influencer Andrew Tate
Andrew Tate’s post that Nick Kyrgios shared with his own comment supporting X
Former professional kickboxer and social media influencer Andrew Tate enters a limousine as he leaves after a pre-trial hearing at the Bucharest Court in Romania.
A Romanian court recently dismissed an appeal by Tate seeking to relax judicial control measures imposed amid ongoing legal proceedings.
Tate faces charges of human trafficking, rape and participating in a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
On Tuesday, the Bucharest Court of Appeal confirmed an earlier decision from January 18, extending the geographical restrictions imposed on Tate for a further 60 days, preventing him from leaving the country.
Tate, a former British-American kickboxer, and his brother Tristan, along with two Romanian women, were initially arrested more than a year ago near Bucharest.
The four were formally charged by Romanian prosecutors in June of the same year, vehemently denying the allegations.
The case is currently in the pretrial court stage, allowing the defendants to challenge the evidence and records presented by prosecutors. No trial dates have been set.
Kyrgios, pictured with partner Costeen Hatzi, has only played one competitive tennis match since reaching the 2022 Wimbledon final.
Fans were quick to ask Kyrgios why he supported Tate on social media.
Despite having 8.7 million followers on social media platform X, Tate maintains there is no evidence against him and alleges a political conspiracy to silence him.
He has a history of being banned from several major social media platforms due to misogynistic views and hate speech.
While the majority of comments on Kyrgios’ post criticized him for supporting Bolt, there were also a handful of supporters.
‘King recognizing another king. I love how you break the rules of what is “acceptable” and show us a damn truth. Very refreshing.’
Kyrgios is currently injured and has only played one competitive match since reaching the Wimbledon final in 2022 against Novak Djokovic.
He recently worked as a commentator for ESPN during the Australian Open and the date of his return to the courts is still unclear.