Love Island star Sharon Gaffka blames Andrew Tate for rise in sexism she’s experienced

Sharon Gaffka of Love Island fame spoke out about the rise in sexism she’s experienced as a result of Andrew Tate’s influence on young men.

Former kickboxer Andrew Tate is currently being detained by Romanian authorities on charges of human trafficking, rape, and gang activity.

The controversial online commentator gained international notoriety in 2022 after his inflammatory views on women went viral on social media platforms. Since then, Tate’s remarks have skyrocketed him to the top of internet discourse, garnering him both harsh criticism and acclaim.

Tate was arrested by Romanian law enforcement in late 2022 — an event that sparked backlash from his fanbase, who even took to the streets of Athens, Greece in protest of his detainment.

Love Island star Sharon Gaffka (also an ambassador for Refuge, a women’s charity), says that she’s experienced a dramatic rise in sexist behavior toward her as a result of Tate’s fame, claiming that his remarks and those of other misogynistic influencers have had severely negative consequences for women.

Sharon Gaffka has experienced rise in sexism amid Andrew Tate fame

“I think online, the types of messages I get are more graphic or violent, because there’s a level of anonymity they can hide behind,” she explained, speaking with TalkTV. “Unfortunately, now what I’m starting to see is that, in particular, groups of people — it’s moving away from being online and more in the street.”

Gaffka claims that she has been harangued by groups of young boys multiple times in real life, which she attributes to Andrew Tate’s influence and other pundits like him.

“In my personal experience, it’s usually groups of teenage boys,” she continued. “They must have seen something on the internet, mainly TikTok”

“A lot of people will say, ‘Oh, it’s probably because they recognized you from TV. In a lot of these instances I’ve got my hood up, I’ve just come back from the gym, you can’t see my face. They’re using a lot of quite sexually graphic language towards me.”

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However, Gaffka isn’t totally placing the blame on Tate for these instances. “I think it would be unfair to put all of the blame on Tate,” she added. “Like you said earlier, there’s a vacuum of other influencers coming in because they’ve seen the financial success Tate has had off his misogynistic influence.”

Gaffka’s comments follow a recent statement from Andrew Tate, who claimed there was “no justice” in Romania during his first public appearance since his arrest late last year.