If you use social media you’ve probably come across Andrew Tate in the last few days. The former YouTube star has had quite the week - first hitting headlines for his high-profile spat with Greta Thunberg in which she questioned the size of his manhood after he boasted about his vast collection of gas-guzzling cars, before he was arrested at his luxury villa in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation on Thursday, December 29. But who is he?
Tate, 36, who was born in Washington DC but raised in Luton, was a professional kickboxer in his teens and 20s between 2005 and 2014 - winning two International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) championships during his brief career in the sport. After leaving professional sport he rose to fame on several social media platforms including Twitter and Youtube - before he was then banned from all of them for repeated misogynistic posts. His Twitter profile has since been reinstated following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.
Hungry for fame, Tate appeared on reality show Big Brother in 2016 but he was kicked off the show early after a video emerged allegedly showing him hitting a woman with a belt and asking her if she knew why she was being beaten. She later said the relationship between them and the actions within the video were consensual and posted a selfie with Tate to prove they were friends. During his time on Big Brother Tate gained further notoriety for his sexist and misogynistic views.
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Alongside his social media work, Tate began an online webcamming company in which he claimed that 75 women, some of them ex-girlfriends, were working with him. Tate and his younger brother Tristan, who have experience in the webcam industry having started their first webcam company from their Luton home more than a decade ago, ran the studio where the models, dressed in lingerie, took calls from fans at $4 per minute. Fans could ask for private shows and pay extra “at their own risk”. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror Tate has admitted that the business was “a total scam” but added that he had no regrets about doing it.
His main business venture in recent times has been Hustler’s University - an online course teaching men cryptocurrency and stock investing in return for a monthly membership fee. Members receive commission for recruiting others to the platform. By August 2022 there were more than 100,000 subscribers - or “students” - to the website.
After being reinstated on Twitter, Tate sparked a row with Greta Thunberg this week when he shared a picture of himself standing next to his Bugatti. Tagging Thunberg, he boasted about his 33 cars and wrote: "Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions." Thunberg responded by saying, "Yes, please do enlighten me" and shared the fake email address smalldickenergy@getalife.com. Her tweet went viral and has been seen by more than 200 million people.
A day later, Tate was arrested in Romania at his villa. The Mirror reports that a handcuffed Tate was filmed being led from the villa by police on Thursday, December 29. Tristan, 34, was also arrested, with both men being held for 24 hours in Bucharest.
According to the BBC, the brothers have been under investigation since April. The Daily Mail reports that Tate's arrest was set off by his tweet to Thunberg, which may have tipped off his location. Stories circulating in Romania suggest police were able to identify Tate as being in their country because of pictures and videos he posted, including one which featured a Romanian pizza box with identifiable branding.
Romanian prosecutors said the Tate brothers along with two unnamed people "appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content". A spokesperson for Tate told the Daily Mirror: "We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can."
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