Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, a new Netflix original documentary, follows the prolific British documentarian as he takes a deep dive into the testosterone-fueled and online gambling-funded world of toxic masculinity, and boy is it something. This nearly 90-minute exploration of the “Manosphere” follows some of the biggest names in the world of alpha male influencers as they make a fortune spewing inflammatory comments and their philosophies about anything and everything.
While a lot of the major players in this world are featured prominently, perhaps the biggest name in this ecosystem is oddly absent: Andrew Tate. While watching the new doc as soon as it dropped on the 2026 movie schedule, I kept wondering why the controversial figure was nowhere to be found.
We now have our answer…
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Louis Theroux And Andrew Tate Couldn’t Agree On The Terms
Though Louis Theroux worked with influencers like Harrison Sullivan, aka HS Tikky Tokky, Myron Gaines, Sneako, Justin Waller, and Ed Matthews for Inside the Manosphere, he wasn’t able to convince Andrew Tate to let him and his camera crew follow him around or even sit down for an interview. However, it wasn’t like the decorated journalist and documentarian didn’t try.
During an appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show (via Newsweek) shortly before the documentary dropped on Netflix, Theroux revealed that he spent a considerable amount of time and effort going back and forth with Tate, saying:
Over the year of filming, I was messaging Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate quite a lot back and forth, and he was, like, 'maybe I'm going to do it if you pay me,' and I said, 'We're not going to pay you.'
The presence of Tate, who has been accused of trafficking more than 30 women in Romania alongside his brother, per the New York Times, can be felt throughout Inside the Manosphere, both in mentions and in his impact on the main subjects of the film. When approached by Newsweek for his side of the story, the former MMA fighter said that Theroux “begged” him for months but couldn’t “afford” his fee.
The Documenarian Admitted He Did Have Some Fun With The Experience
If you’ve watched any of Louis Theroux’s critically acclaimed documentaries, especially his 2016 film, My Scientology Movie, you are fully aware that he loves going back and forth with his subjects. Not only is that the case again in Inside the Manosphere, but also in his attempts to get Andrew Tate to be a part of it.
During a Q&A session following a screening of his new documentary (via Radio Times), Theroux explained that he had a “long back and forth” with Tate that included voice notes and “weird peacock flexing from both of us” that ultimately didn’t go anywhere. In his chat with Romesh Ranganathan, Theroux went a step further, explaining that Tate sent him a Google Trends graph comparing each other’s search volume over the past few years after saying the documentarian wasn’t “relevant anymore.”
Though he wasn’t shocked to see Tate’s line rising sharply and his own remaining flat, Theroux said there was one brief moment where he had more searches. He handled it about as gracefully as possible:
So, I screenshot and circled that, and I said, ‘I’m literally more relevant than you are.’ I felt pretty gangster.
The thought of Theroux getting all excited getting one up on one of the most controversial figures in the “manosphere” is just too hilarious. I just wish it had been captured in the documentary.
Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere is currently streaming with a Netflix subscription. Though you won’t have to deal with Andrew Tate saying some off-the-wall stuff, the subjects who are included have that more than covered.
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