Andrew Tate, best known for his polarizing and misogynistic rhetoric and online media presence, was arrested and detained in Romania on Dec. 29. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, are being brought up on charges of organized crime, human trafficking and rape.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, is investigating these charges. The agency said that the brothers, along with two Romanian women who were also detained as accomplices, allegedly lured victims under false pretenses of romantic relationships and then forced the victims to perform pornographic acts that would be later posted on social media for financial gain.
These charges of sexual exploitation and rape allegations are part of a string of past allegations brought against Andrew Tate. Prosecutors involved in the current charges being brought up against the brothers have claimed to have found six victims in relation to the charges. It is believed that through violence and mental intimidation, the brothers were able to exploit the victims for the purpose of creating pornography.
Due to the Tate brothers’ resources and wealth, a judge ordered that the brothers be denied bail, and they will remain in custody for 30 days. The brothers and their attorney, Eugen Vidineac, have denied all allegations and claim that the evidence presented thus far has been unsubstantiated.
Tate, who is a dual British-American citizen, first made headlines in 2016 when he briefly appeared on series 17 of “Big Brother.” Tate was later removed from the series when videos surfaced on the internet showing Tate whipping his ex-girlfriend with a belt and slapping her in the face. The woman involved in the video later claimed the acts shown to be consensual.
In 2017, Tate made disturbing comments on Twitter in the midst of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, when he posted, “If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bare some responsibility.” These comments resulted in Tate’s ban on Twitter, which has since been reversed since Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022.
Tate became a prominent media star once again in 2022 as his polarizing and controversial views began to circulate on TikTok. Despite Tate’s concerning viewpoints and misogynistic outbursts — where he has insinuated that women are the property of men and has in detail described violence against women — millions of fans have praised him for promoting ‘male empowerment.’ Tate’s popularity is alarming as his millions of viewers range from grown men to young boys whose minds can fall victim to his dangerous content.
Days prior to the Tate brothers and their two accomplices being arrested, Tate, who often taunts liberal political figures and activists on social media, engaged in a ‘Twitter war’ with Greta Thunberg, a 19-year-old climate change activist. Tate tweeted on Dec. 27 the following message: “Hello @GretaThunberg… I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”
Thunberg’s reply, which has now become the most-liked tweet of all time, replied: “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com.”
In true Andrew Tate fashion, Tate responded to the tweet with a video directed at Greta, where he is seen ranting to the camera while smoking a cigar and eating pizza. Not long after, Romanian police raided Tate’s home, where he was arrested and detained. The timing of the arrest caused speculation on the internet that Tate’s demise was due to the pizza boxes in the video, as they possibly could have given away his location. Thunberg replied to the theory and snarkily responded by tweeting: “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.” This theory has since been denied by Romanian authorities, who released a statement that the raid had been planned in advance.
In the past week, Romanian authorities have seized assets of up to 18 million lei ($3.95 million) as part of their criminal inquiry into Tate and the alleged human trafficking. Tate and his brother continue to deny all wrongdoing.
