Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are facing charges in Romania of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The brothers appeared at a Bucharest court hearing on Tuesday (26 September), which asked that their current juridical measures imposed be lifted, alongside protocols that saw several of their assets seized during ongoing investigations.
The decision was postponed and is yet to be reached. The brothers deny any wrongdoing.
The court hearing comes amid reports that four British women are allegedly suing Tate after he is claimed to have choked them until blood vessels burst in their eyes. Again, he refutes the allegations against him.
Naturally, Andrew Tate has been trending on Google for some time now. Clearly many are keen to understand just how this man rose to fame.
Who is Andrew Tate?
Tate is a 36-year-old kickboxer, ex-Big Brother contestan, whose terrifyingly misogynistic beliefs made him TikTok famous.
Tate was taking over the internet before Instagram, Facebook and YouTube banned him for breaching their platform guidelines earlier this year. Before being suspended from social media - although he has since been reinstated on X (formerly Twitter) and accumulated a worrying 7 million followers - he had 4.5 million Instagram followers and 737k committed YouTube subscribers, despite preaching misogyny so flagrant it’s hard not to think it’s a joke. ‘Females are barely sentient,’ he claimed. ‘Females don’t have independent thought. They don’t come up with anything. They’re just empty vessels, waiting for someone to install the programming.’
How is Andrew Tate rich?
Tate markets himself as an alpha male lifestyle coach. He ran a (now rapidly shut down) digital course called ‘Hustlers University’ and anyone who bought into the programme could become an affiliate to make 50% from anyone they refer. Essentially, it was a pyramid scheme, which motivated his disciples to promote his hateful views online and make revenue off the billions of TikTok hits they generated on their own accounts.
And why was it so dangerous? Because of the vitriol Tate was spitting out. The mega influencer described women as men’s ‘property’ and says that ‘if you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bear some responsibility'. Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis both issued statements outlining Tate’s views as extreme misogyny.
How did Andrew Tate become famous? His Big Brother UK stint explained
Tate – who has claimed his net worth is around £559m - first rose to fame when he worked as a TV producer and a world champion kickboxer before appearing on Big Brother in 2016. After hitting a woman with a belt, he was kicked out of the house and shortly afterwards another video emerged where he told the woman to ‘count the bruises’ he caused her. Both he and the woman denied the abuse.
Born in Chicago and raised in Luton, Tate said in a now-removed YouTube video that his decision to move to Romania was ‘probably 40 per cent’ down to his belief that it’s easier to swerve punishment for rape in Eastern Europe. ‘I’m not a rapist,’ he said. ‘But I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.’
In April last year, Tate’s house in Romania was raided and he was questioned on the whereabouts of a 21-year-old American woman who the police were told was being held there against her will. His house was again raided the same week and he was detained on human trafficking allegations once more. He denied any wrongdoing.
Does Andrew Tate have children?
Tate has claimed he has ‘double digits’ children. But no woman has come forward to say she’s had a child with him.
Is Andrew Tate in prison?
Andrew and Tristan were arrested in Bucharest in December 2022, before they were detained in police custody until March. In August, they won an appeal to be released from house arrest and were placed under juridical control. This means their movement is restricted to Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov County.
Let's be clear, Andrew Tate is not clever or heroic - he simply knows that controversial claims will get him views on the internet. Does he believe the misogyny he’s vomiting out? We may never know for certain. But he’s gained popularity and wealth while his followers champion his hatred.
TikTok was, likely inadvertently, privileging clips of Tate posted by his fans because the algorithm rewards content that’s going viral. But this content should be spotted early and banned for hate speech before it has the chance to go viral, because his words have the power to incite real-world violence. Tate claims he can ‘free the modern man from socially induced incarceration’. But what does that freedom look like? Abuse.
‘Bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck,’ Tate advised men to react to any woman accusing them of cheating. ‘Shut up b***,’ he added.
As Rape Crisis’ policy lead Amelia Hardy pointed out to [reporters]{href='https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11091039/Andrew-Tate-TikTok-faces-calls-remove-misogynistic-videos-outspoken-British-influencer.html' }: ‘These videos are a clear example of rape culture, where rape and sexual violence are minimised, and survivors are blamed for crimes committed against them. TikTok has a responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its users: by allowing these videos on their platform they are failing to protect the millions of young people who use their app.’
‘Misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok,’ the app told Grazia in response to the backlash. ‘Our investigation into this content is ongoing and we are removing accounts and videos that violate our Community Guidelines. We are continually strengthening our policies and enforcement strategies as part of our work to keep TikTok a safe and inclusive space.’
But the damage was already done, Tate's fandom is large. ‘This guy makes me feel good man like every word he said makes everything good to me,’ said one male supporter on the app, while others called him ‘inspirational’ and the ‘true definition of a man’.