Last month, the cryptocurrency-based online casino Duel aired a blackjack livestream that it said would be hosted by former pro kickboxer turned controversial masculinity influencer Andrew Tate.
But while the dealer—a bald man with dark stubble, wearing a black T-shirt, tight suit, and sunglasses—bore a resemblance to Tate, he didn’t act much like the swaggeringly macho and voluble streamer. His mostly silent performance was punctuated by sudden bouts of singing, vigorous twerking, and still more ridiculous dance moves, the most impressive being a full split on the blackjack table. He also spontaneously made out with a male assistant posted to his side, pulling him in for the kiss by his necktie.
The performance went viral, but sometime after the livestream began, Duel’s founder and owner, Ossi Ketola, claimed that the casino had been duped by an influencer management agency. “We were promised a deal where Andrew Tate would deal blackjack for one of our live games,” Ketola wrote in Duel’s Discord server. “When he arrived at the studio, we realized we had been rugged. The person that stood in front of us bore some resemblance, but he wasn’t the real Andrew Tate. It was an impostor. By this point we are too far in and the costs have been incurred, so we are forced to run with it to save face.” Duel did not respond to a request for comment regarding the alleged bait and switch.
