Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation Directorate in Bucharest, Romania, on Thursday.
Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea/Reuters
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Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea/Reuters
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation Directorate in Bucharest, Romania, on Thursday.
Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea/Reuters
Sports cars, a pizza box, Greta Thunberg, Romania, sex trafficking and a highly controversial internet celebrity. If you heard someone talk about any of these things this week, chances are you also wanted to ask them: who exactly is Andrew Tate?
The man at the center of it all has long been a magnet for such a question. He has been described as the “king of toxic masculinity”, one of the”the internet’s most controversial personalities“and”the Top G.”
And the latest news, Reuters and Romanian media say he was arrested for human trafficking, rape and forming an organized criminal group.
Let’s dig into it.
First, here’s a quick look at the rise of Tate
Tate, a British citizen born in the United States, first became an international name through his career as a kickboxer, winning several world titles.
In 2016, he tried his hand at reality TV, but was launched the UK version of Big brother On a video of him hitting a woman with a belt. Tate said the video was a “total lie” that had been edited to make it look bad.
On social media, Tate has become a strong supporter of former President Trump and has been spotted around Washington, DC, with prominent conspiracy theorists and right-wing talk shows like Infowars.
After portraying himself as a self-help influencer for men, he was banned from Twitter in 2017 for saying women should take responsibility for being sexually assaulted. His Twitter account was reinstated in November after Elon Musk took over the platform.
At various times, Tate got banned from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for similarly misogynistic remarks.
Tate said women belong in the home, shouldn’t be allowed to drive a car, and are the property of the man. He said he preferred dating 18 and 19 year olds because they are more easily influenced.
These days, Tate claims to make millions and peddle his philosophy of life to thousands of people through an online course and community called “Hustlers University”.
For $49 a month, anyone can He makes thousands of dollars a month from skills like writing and buying NFTs, as well as recruiting others into the community for a commission fee. An announcement for the course claims Hustlers University has over 168,000 active students, some as young as 13.
His polemical style is particularly appreciated by Gen Zers. A survey conducted by investment bank Piper Sandler this fall found that Tate was ranked as the favorite influencer among those under 18.
A survey of The Guardian discovered that hundreds of Hustler University members are repackaging Tate clips on platforms like TikTok every day.
This summer, when he was banned from the best platforms, his name was searched more frequently than those of Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian.
Why is everyone talking about Tate now?
Tate and her brother, Tristan, were reportedly arrested in Romania late Thursday night for human trafficking and rape.
The Romanian Agency for Combating Organized Crime issued a statement saying four suspects – two British citizens and two Romanians – had recruited women into their program and then sexually exploited them by forcing them to perform in pornography with the intention of making money.
The statement did not directly name Tate, although an accompanying video of the arrest appears to show Tate, who is British, being led away in handcuffs. Romanian authorities and Tate spokespersons did not respond to NPR’s requests for confirmation.
Romanian media reports said Tate had been detained for questioningand Reuters reported that he confirmed the incident with Tate’s lawyer.
OK, so what does Greta Thunberg have to do with this?
Tate had already been in the public eye this week after picking a seemingly random Twitter fight with Thunberg, the 19-year-old climate activist.
On Tuesday, he posted a photo of himself standing next to a Bugatti, captioned with the text “Hello @GretaThunberg. I have 33 cars. […] Please provide your email address so I can send a full list of my car collection and their respective huge shows.”
The next day, she replied on Twitter, “Yes, please enlighten me. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com.” Over 3 million users liked the post.
then posted a video of himself sitting in a wood paneled roomwearing a Versace dress, smoking a cigar, describing Thunberg as a bitter “matrix slave” who is trying to “convince you to beg your government to tax you with poverty to keep the sun from heating up”.
Midway through the video, he gestures off-camera, asking someone to bring him a pizza. “Make sure these boxes aren’t recycled,” he jokes, laying the two packages of pies on the table so the blue and red “Jerry’s Pizza” branding is clearly visible to the camera.
When the video of his alleged arrest begins to roll, some local and international journalists He said the boxes, which came from a local Romanian pie joint, were just the evidence local authorities needed to confirm Tate was in the country.
Several have since backtracked on that claim, saying they had simply made an assumption. Romanian authorities did not respond to NPR’s request for more information.
But that uncertainty hasn’t stopped Thunberg herself from weighing in.
“This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” she tweeted.
here’s what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 30, 2022
What happens next for Tate?
Tate, who moved to Romania five years ago, said in a YouTube video that “40%” of her motivation for moving was because the police were less likely to investigate the sexual assault allegations.
Local media reports confirmed by various US media outlets claiming that Romanian police had raided Tate’s Romanian residence once earlier, on April 11, after claims that an American woman was being held captive in the house.
In their statement on the latest raids, Romanian authorities said the suspects would be detained for 24 hours. examination.
On Friday morning, Tate appeared to tweet about the incident, using a reference to The matrix it became a signature of his Hustlers University philosophy.
The Associated Press reported that a judge in Bucharest extended Tate’s arrest warrant for 30 days.. He will be held in custody while authorities investigate, but the decision can be appealed at any time, a spokesman for Romania’s crime-fighting agency said.
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