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Andrew Tate

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Tate in 2021
Voice of the voiceful
Men's rights
Icon antifeminism test2.svg
Lest women catch up
Bros before hoes
It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up bitch.
—Andrew Tate, endorsing domestic violence[1]
It is as if someone has taken every type of woman-hater you can think of — a footballer, an incel, an Arab sheikh, the Tinder Swindler — and rolled them into one menacing, manscaped action doll, given them loads of guns, money and cars and made them say worse things than Donald Trump.
—Camilla Long, The Times.[2]
Don't take life advice from people like Andrew Tate. Not just because he used to get kicked in the head for a living, and not just because he's currently covered in lice and cockroaches in a jail cell, and not just because he's an admitted rapist. Well, actually yes, don't listen to him for all those reasons. But also don't listen to him because he's wrong. ... He looked at this unfair, exploitative system, and he said: 'I'm going to climb up it, by myself, so I can buy a car.' ... Can you honestly tell me, with a straight face, that choosing to live as he does has made Andrew Tate happy?
Shaun[3]:36:38

Emory Andrew Tate III (1986–) is a former kickboxer turned webcam-based relationship scammer,[4] "king of toxic masculinity"[5] personality cult leader,[6] food hater,[7] book hater,[8][9] and leader of an investment and dropshipping advice business.[10][11] Born in Washington, D.C. to an African-American chess master, he mostly resided in Europe, being raised in the British city of Luton and later living and being imprisoned in Bucharest, Romania.[12]

After some participation in kickboxing, Tate rose to fame in meme culture when he started stating outlandish claims about women in some podcasts he appeared in. After scamming men off a webcam business, Tate got rich and decided to endeavor in more scams to the same people he deceived, which included a book about hooking women, and his latest con ring, Hustlers University. In December 2022, Tate was arrested in Romania along with his brother and an unnamed former policewoman on charges of human trafficking.[13]

Tate is well known for being involved in multiple sexual abuse scandals, which included when he was in Big Brother and most recently, Romania. Some of examples of his slow decline include being subject of a police investigation and being banned from social media platforms despite his fanboys continuing to post his fringe views daily.

Tristan, his younger brother, is often an accomplice in his various schemes.

Early career[edit]

I think that he is so seductive to such a big audience because the image of masculinity that he sells is one that’s very rooted in traditional male characteristics. He's very big on this idea of the alpha male, the man that’s in control... I think some men can see that as a particularly attractive trait, but he's also big on conspicuous consumption. He lives a very jet-set lifestyle: fast cars, private planes, mansions, expensive holidays away. And then he has really traditional and, to my mind, outdated views about what a relationship should look like, and what the role of men and women in those relationships should be... What he says goes, it's his way or the highway; women are only there to attend to the house, to look after the kids, to really be in service of the relationship. I think my immediate reaction was probably one of sadness that this is the image of masculinity that sells.
—Robert Lawson, associate professor in sociolinguistics at Birmingham City University.[14]

One of his first interests was chess due to his father. He managed to attend some adult tournaments, but rage-quit after a few losses.[15]

Tate had practiced martial arts since 2005, managing to win 17 of his 19 fights. In 2009, he attempted working in advertising, but instead won his first belt of a cruiserweight championship in the city of Derby, achieving a rank in the European division.[16] In the following years, he would obtain 2 world championship titles.[17]

Even well prior to his later day infamy, Tate was spouting off hyper-masculine, egotistical, racist, and misogynistic viewpoints on both social media and online interviews, self-describing himself as a "pimp super star" whom God had made "better than everybody else" in one 2014 interview, and as "toxically masculine" in his Twitter profile in 2017. Some of these comments resurfaced in tabloid reports during his very short 2016 appearance on the reality series Big Brother.Wikipedia[18][19][20][21]

Early controversy and sexual assault allegations[edit]

Indeed, keep your movie.[22] You are also missing out on being a criminal.
I’m a realist and when you’re a realist you’re sexist. There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.
—Andrew Tate on Youtube.[23]

In 2016, Tate managed to appear in the Big Brother show. However, he got booted 11 days after a video emerged of Tate assaulting and threatening his then girlfriend at the time. He claimed the video was "consensual" sex.[24] 2 other videos would emerge in British media of Tate assaulting and threatening other women.[25] Tate threatened legal action since it was a leaked private video.

In January 2023, ViceWikipedia revealed that an additional factor in Tate being given the boot from Big Brother: a separate sexual assault, physical abuse, and rape investigation in 2015 (reportedly leading to a brief arrest) that HertfordshireWikipedia Police was conducting concerning two of his webcam employees. One woman alleged that she was strangled by Tate 5 times and saw Tate choke other women on at least 10 occasions. The other women allegedly was raped. After the rape, according to the two women, the victims reported the incidents to the police (despite Tate's reported threats of physical violence). The police, however, declined to press charges.[26] One week later, Vice revealed that a third woman also reported to the police that she was raped by Tate, this time in November 2013.[27]

Mental illness denial[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Mental illness denial

Tate denies that depression exists as a clinical illness, acting like it is a propaganda for weak men by big pharma.[28] Instead, he asserts that it is a sign to change up. This, of course, sparked backlash from Twitter users about such denialism. Tate responded by claiming agreement from people who were/are depressed and continuing to dismiss it as a defense for weak men.

Rise in wealth[edit]

The jump starter for his wealth came when he opened up a webcam service with his brother called myfreecams. Men would spend £4 a minute interacting with women in lingerie that were behind poor equipment. The women would claim to have crippling debt in order to scam men out of their money and would furthermore have his staff send messages to men on behalf of the models in order to give the false impression of a relationship. The brothers admitted it was a scam but claimed the authorities couldn't stop them.[29]

According to one report, Tate recruited women to his webcam business by posing as a "loverboy" or "romeo pimp". This is a known tactic of human traffickers where the trafficker tries to get their victims to fall in love with them for exploitation purposes. These type of traffickers typically target individuals who they perceive as having some vulnerability, such as poverty or emotional distress, that would make the victim more vulnerable and receptive than usual. The trafficker then enters the "grooming and gaming" stage, posing as a love interest while simultaneously gathering information to use against the victim later. Once the victim is under the trafficker's influence, the trafficker takes advantage of the situation and forces the victim into businesses like the sex industry, using mental coercion, blackmail, and even physical violence.[26][30][31] Reportedly Tate was using similar tactics during the events that led to his arrest in Romania in late December 2022.[26]

Misogyny[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Misogyny

Andrew Tate is known for being a pimp his extremist views about women and masculinity. Tate believes that women are the property of men. Furthermore, he is one of those that believes that rape victims should bear some responsibility.[1]

Tate shows a preference for younger women due to being through "less dick" in their lives, having more "imprints" available for them.

He is pathologically jealous of his female partners, often stating that he'd never let anyone near them (why, I mean, he's so alpha it wouldn't even cross her mind, right?)[32] Even to the point of saying that that he would only administer CPR on these people over everyone else.[33]

If I have a chick, even though I know she won’t let them smash. Even though I know she knows what they’re about. Even though I know she’s loyal to me. Out of respect for me, it’s not jealousy, it’s territorialism. If you want me to truly love you, you are my girl. And no one’s gonna be allowed to even try. Even though I know you won’t let them… If you wanna go to the club you can go with me.

His insecurity about the fidelity of his partners just reflects a lot of the deep-seated mistrust that most of these misogynists have of women and the fear that many of their fans have about having no control over their partner's actions, as that's terrifying.[note 1]

He would often present hostility by threatening to assault women if they don't conform to his values.[35] Tate believes that it's okay for men to cheat but it's wrong for a woman to cheat.[36]

The scam of Hustlers University[edit]

I thought it was gonna be actual courses like masterclass or something. Even NinjaWikipedia put more effort in his fucking tutorials. You're paying $50 a month for a discord. Holy Shit! That's worse than being a discord mod.
—Charles White, Andrew Tate

In 2021, Tate started "Hustlers University," which he described as "the most fantastic place on the planet for making money", where one can learn to "escape the matrix" and avoid being a "loser", "peon", or a "wage slave brokie". Like many get-rich-quick schemes, the promotions are decked with luxury goods in the background to tantalize viewers into being scammed into enrolling into the course.[37]

In reality, Tate's school served primarily as a vehicle to promote "Tateism" — a combination of pro-capitalism and pro-hypermasculinity — through an "affiliate program" to spread this messaging all across social media channels, where vulnerable young men might dwell and be seduced by the message.[37] For the $49.99 membership fee, users get access to a Discord server and access to video lessons purportedly teaching (sometimes dubious) money-making methods such as cryptocurrency "investment". The videos, naturally, are also sprinkled with misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric; at Hustlers University, you can "learn", for instance, that carrying around a water bottle is "gay" for some reason.[37] In addition, Tate offered, for the price of $4497, a special group chat on a Telegram channel called "the War Room" with purported direct access to Tate himself.[37]

Critics, including those who are actually employed in business careers, have described the content of Hustlers University as very basic, the type of information you can find on any YouTube tutorial, where you will also find far less of the hyper-masculine aggressive posturing, flame-bait encouragement, and grade-school insults that Tate's videos contain.[1][37] The more notable aspect of the program (particularly to Tate) was the "affiliate program". Members can make a small amount of money by spamming Tate's bullshit from their fanboy accounts in social media, taking a small cut of the advertising and membership fees.[38] This bombardment was particularly attractive to the algorithm driving TikTok feeds. A Guardian investigation in August 2022 showed how simply viewing a few videos aimed at male users would end up flooding your Tiktok feed with Andrew Tate videos.[39]

Many critics have described the Hustlers University program as either a multilevel marketing style program, or even a pyramid scheme. Tate denies these allegations, calling the program an "affiliate program, same as Amazon or Spotify or anyone else."[40]

Due to increased social media attention (and subsequent bans), Tate closed Hustlers University in August 2022.[41] He relaunched the scam later that year as "The Real World", with a higher price and exclusive usage of the Telegram platform.[37]

On August 31 2023, the BBC revealed that they had obtained a sample selection of chat logs for Tate's "War Room" chat room. These leaked chats allegedly indicated that one of the "War Room" classes was a "PhD" course — PhD in this case childishly standing for "Pimpin' Hoes degree" — where members were given instructions on how to be a "loverboy" / "romeo pimp" type groomer in order to lure women into performing on adult webcams. The leader of this "War Room" course was a self-proclaimed "wizard" who went by the name "Iggy Semmelweiss" (real name: Miles Sonkin, who according to the BBC was a former member of two previous cults and developed interest in the far-right in the 2000s). War Room members who subscribed to this course were encouraged to use psychological manipulation (referred to in chats as "Pavlovian conditioning") and even violence in order to remove the victim's "entire support structure from her life", isolate the victim "from her family, friends, (and) past", and completely force submission to the pimp (including "tests of submission" such as getting women to tattoo the War Room members' initials on their bodies). Most of the profits from the webcam shows, of course, went to the War Room pimp, not the victim. From these chats, the BBC was able to identify 45 potential victims between March 2019 and April 2020 (although this total is likely an underestimate).[42][43]

Later times[edit]

Deplatforming[edit]

In August 2022, Tate was banned from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.[23] This ban did not remove the widespread message that his fans have spread on social media.[44]

Conversion to Islam[edit]

Any Christian who believes in good and understands the true battle against evil must convert.
—Tate spews more bullshit on Twitter, 24 October 2022[45]

On October 24, 2022 Andrew Tate converted to Islam.[45]

Shilling for cryptocurrency[edit]

Despite saying he did not endorse "shitcoins" and that cryptocurrency was a scam, in 2024 he said he would be launching his own cryptocurrency, "Top G - The G stands for crypto", if he got 50,000 retweets. The tweet was later deleted.[46]

Rape and human trafficking allegations[edit]

Tate's December 2022 match on the Twitter streets did not end well for him.

Sometime in the aftermath of a certain riot, Tate fled to Romania with his brother due to believing that he will be much less likely to be caught in sexual assault investigations.[47] Unsurprisingly, the Romanian police responded by raiding his home in April of 2022. While the investigation was ongoing, police found two women, one American and one Romanian, being held captive at Tate's home.[48]

Detention[edit]

My job was to get women to fall in love with me. Literally, that was my job. My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her, see if she's quality, get her to fall in love with me to where she'd do anything I say, and then get her on webcam so we could become rich together. Whether you agree or disagree with what I did with their loyalty, submission, and love for me doesn't matter. You cannot reject the results, and the results were simple. My girlfriends would do more for me than 99.9% of men's wives would do for them.
—Andrew Tate idiotically admitting to his scheme on his website (he tried to remove it, but it was too late)[49][50]

The Romanian anti-organised crime unit detained Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan on suspicions of them being involved in human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized criminal group. Specifically, prosecutors allege the Tates are involved in "recruiting, housing, and exploiting women" for pornographic content. Six victims were identified that allegedly were forced to perform pornographic sex acts under the threat of violence, including two occasions where one of the suspects used violence and psychological pressure to rape a victim.[51][52]

Despite speculation on the Internet (as well as some questionable reporting from questionable "news" sources like the New York Post)[53] that a pizza box pictured in a video by Andrew Tate, which he recorded and posted during a Twitter feud with Greta Thunberg, provided crucial evidence to Tate's detention, the Romanian anti-organised crime unit stated the pizza box had nothing to do with this.[54] On 30 December 2022, Tate's detention was extended from 24 hours to 30 days.[54]

10 properties and land owned by the Tate brothers or their companies were subsequently raided by the Romanian authorities.[55]

House arrest[edit]

Andrew Tate was free from detention, only to be put in detention again, which was his own home and the house arrest expired on 29 April 2023.[56]

BBC interview[edit]

Tate's house arrest had expired and during the time and after many things happed. However one thing of importance that happed after Tate's house arrest, was the BBC interview on 1 June 2023. The interview was between BBC journalist Lucy Williamson and Tate about the issues of his belfies and crimes. Here is a list of what the interview concluded:[57]

  • Tate denied any crime allegations against him.
  • Does not believe in the mainstream media.
  • Does not believe any of the victims that he hurt.
  • Believing that some of his comments were taken out of context.
  • Believing his a force for good and acting in god's path.

Officially indicted[edit]

On 20 June, 2023, Romanian officials ended the criminal investigation and formally indicted Andrew Tate and his brother on charges of human trafficking and forming an organized crime group. In addition, one of the suspects (per the Washington Post, most likely Andrew Tate himself) was also charged with rape.[58] The case went to the Bucharest court's preliminary chamber, which is to schedule a trial start date in Romania's backlogged courts.[59] The Tates were barred from international travel before their trial after their application to spend Christmas with their poor sick mother in the UK was denied by the courts.[60]

Extradition to the UK[edit]

On March 12, 2024, a Romanian apppeals court approved the brothers extradition to the UK following their pending Bucharest trial.[59] The extradition warrant was issued after Tate's friend Adin Ross livestreamed a text from Tate indicating that the brothers were planning on fleeing Romania.[61][62] The Tates denied the intention to flee and the allegations brought by four women, who crowdfunded a civil case after the UK Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute, of sexual aggression in 2012-2015, but, following the appeal court's ruling, claimed returning to the UK was what they had wanted all along.[63]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. It has been argued on TV Tropes that this distrust and fear of being cucked is a root cause of misogyny.[34]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Inside the violent, misogynistic world of TikTok’s new star, Andrew Tate (6 August 2022) Shanti Das, The Guardian
  2. The ascent of a lowlife like Andrew Tate proves that misogyny is baked into our everyday lives. The Times.
  3. Shaun (February 11, 2023). "Andrew Tate: How to be a Real Man". YouTube.
  4. Emer Scully, Brothers make millions using webcam girls to sell 'sob' stories to desperate men. The Mirror, 29 June 2022.
  5. Who is Andrew Tate, self-styled 'king of toxic masculinity' and butt of Greta Thunberg's jokes? by Josephine Franks (30 December 2022 20:33, UK) Sky News.
  6. Jack King (February 23, 2023). "'The Dangerous Rise of Andrew Tate' is a terrifying look inside the world of a farcical cult leader". British GQ.
  7. Andrew Tate (November 9, 2023). "Foods awful and eating sucks. I eat the bare minimum and as fast as possible. I hate eating. I hate feeling full." Twitter. (Archived version).
  8. (April 2022). "Andrew Tate on reading books 📚". YouTube.
  9. Andrew Tate (December 13, 2022). "Reading books is for losers who are afraid to learn from life. So they try and learn from the life OTHERS have lived. But you never REALLY learn unless you lived it. You must feel it to believe it. Books are a total waste of time. Education for cowards." Twitter. (Archived version).
  10. Shanti Das (August 20, 2022). "Andrew Tate: money-making scheme for fans of 'extreme misogynist' closes". The Guardian.
  11. Harriet Brewis (April 4, 2023). "Andrew Tate's Hustlers University has an important lesson for us all". indy100.
  12. Sardar, Samrat (August 4, 2022). "'Emory Tate was Absolutely a Trailblazer for African-American Chess': Andrew Tate’s Father Once Received Ultimate Praise from Grandmaster Maurice Ashley". EssentiallySports. 
  13. Anti-feminist social media personality Andrew Tate 'arrested' in Romania on human trafficking charges (29 December 2022) Leading Britain's Conversation.
  14. How Andrew Tate sells men on toxic masculinity. Vox.
  15. Chess family strives to keep pressures of game in check (30 August 1993) Lisa Bornstein, The South Bend Tribune
  16. Tate on the rise (6 May, 2009) unknown writer, Luton Today
  17. Jake Paul vs Andrew Tate tale of the tape after kickboxer's fight call-out (30 July, 2022) Donagh Corby, Mirror
  18. "Big Brother's Andrew Tate brands women who aren't virgins 'used goods' in shocking interview" by Katy Forrester and Rachael Moon, Daily Mirror, 2016 June 16
  19. "Andrew King Cobra Tate: 'Dump Your Girlfriend. She's Been Shagged By a Nunch of Men Before You Anyways', LoveFight magazine, 2014 October 30, archived on 2017 Marc 7
  20. "Big Brother's Andrew Tate revealed to have made homophobic and racist comments on Twitter" by Ben Lee, DigitalSpy, 2016 June 9
  21. @Cobratate, Twitter feed of Andrew Tate, archived on 2017 September 10
  22. Keep Your Movie (Created April 17, 2019, Updated April 18, 2019) Sophie and Y F, Know Your Meme
  23. 23.0 23.1 ‘Dangerous misogynist’ Andrew Tate removed from Instagram and Facebook (19 August, 2022) Kari Paul, The Guardian
  24. Twitter ignored its own rules to verify kickboxer who said women should ‘bear some responsibility’ for being raped Adam Smith, Independent
  25. Pure kinky or pure sick? BB Andrew's hardcore vids exposed – and reason Big Bro axed him (17 June 2016, updated 26 September, 2019) Jack Hardwick, Daily Star
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 "Exclusive: Andrew Tate Was Arrested on Suspicion of Rape in the UK in 2015" by Matt Shea, Jamie Tahsin, and Tim Hume, Vice World News, 2023 January 4
  27. "‘I Love Raping You’: What Andrew Tate Told Woman Who Accused Him of Rape" by Jamie Tahsin, Matt Shea, and Time Hume, Vice World News, 2023 January 11
  28. Man on Twitter who claimed depression 'isn't real' got absolutely schooled (12 September 2017) Catriona Harvey-Jenner, Cosmopolitan
  29. Brothers make millions using webcam girls to sell 'sob' stories to desperate men (Created 19 March 2022, updated 29 June 2022) Emer Scully, Mirror
  30. "Loverboys", definition,Human trafficking and people smuggling topic, Goverment of the Netherlands
  31. "'Romeo pimps': Sex traffickers luring young women by posing as potential boyfriends, experts say" by Paula Duhatschek, CBC News, 2019 September 10
  32. Andrew Tate Quotes: 50+ Most Outrageous And Controversial (12 August 2022) Sam Harby, Downtime Bros
  33. Andrew Tate explains why he won’t give CPR to his friends. Cobra Tate, YouTube, April 2022.
  34. Cuckold, TV Tropes. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  35. Why Social Media Sites Are Removing Andrew Tate’s Accounts (24 August 2022) Amanda Holpuch, The New York Times
  36. Tate clip, YouTube.
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 "Andrew Tate’s Hustlers University 2.0 Has Made At Least $11 Million In Just One Month" by Ikran Dahir, Buzzfeed News, 2022 October 25
  38. "I'm gonna have to make my own money": the rise of the side hustle (21 August 2022) Sam Parker, The Guardian
  39. "How TikTok bombards young men with misogynistic videos" by Shanti Das, Guardian, 2022 August 6
  40. "The internet can’t stop talking about Andrew Tate" by Morgan Sung, NBC News, 2022 August 16
  41. "Andrew Tate closed his Hustlers University affiliate marketing program that helped him go viral a day after he was banned from Meta and TikTok" by Isabella Zavarise, Business Insider, 2022 August 21
  42. "Andrew Tate: Chats in 'War Room' suggest dozens of women groomed" by Jamie Tahsin and Matt Shea, BBC News, 2023 August 31
  43. "Revealing Andrew Tate's Secretive War Room "Brothers"" by Michael Colborne, Bellingcat, 2023 August 10
  44. Andrew Tate banned from YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram (Created 19 August 2022, updated 22 August 2022) Morgan Sung, NBC News
  45. 45.0 45.1 Sakina Fatima, Andrew Tate converts to Islam, prayer video goes viral. The Siasat Daily, 25 October 2022.
  46. Andrew Tate Disavowed Crypto—Now He's Pitching His Own Coin, Jason Nelson, Decrypt 1 February 2024
  47. Poliția a descins cu mascații în vila luptătorului Tristan Tate, fost iubit al Biancăi Drăgușanu. Milionarul britanic ar fi sechestrat două femei, pentru a le exploata sexual. gandul.ro, 4 November 2022. (Romanian)
  48. Police Raid MAGA ‘King of Toxic Masculinity’ in Human-Trafficking Investigation (Created 22 April 2022, updated 27 April 2022) Will Sommer, Daily Beast
  49. Andrew Tate publicly admits to and brags about human trafficking. Offers to teach others, r/awfuleverything
  50. "The PHD Program", CobraTate.com, archived on 2022 January 8
  51. "Andrew Tate Is Charged With Human Trafficking and Rape in Romania" by McKenna Oxenden and Jenny Gross, New York Times, 2022 December 30
  52. "Andrew Tate detained in Romania over rape and human trafficking case" by George Wright and Matt Murphy, BBC, 2022 December 30
  53. "Andrew Tate arrested by pizza box — more hungry bozos turned slice scofflaws" by Kirsten Fleming, New York Post, 2022 December 30
  54. 54.0 54.1 Luiza Ilie and Octav Ganea, Romanian court extends detention of ex-kickboxer Andrew Tate in rape, human trafficking case. Reuters, 30 December 2022.
  55. Nicolae Dumitrache and Stephen Mcgrath, Romania searches 7 homes in case of influencer Andrew Tate. AP News, 12 January 2023.
  56. Nadeem Badshah, Andrew Tate released from detention and moved to house arrest in Romania. The Guardian, 31 March 2023.
  57. Lucy Williamson, Andrew Tate BBC interview: Influencer challenged on misogyny and rape allegations. BBC News, 1 June 2023.
  58. "Andrew Tate, brother indicted on charges of rape, human trafficking" by Victoria Bisset and Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 2023 June 20
  59. 59.0 59.1 Romanian court approves request to extradite Andrew Tate, Reuters, March 13, 2024.
  60. Andrew Tate denied request to visit ill mother in UK, by Mircea Barbu, BBC News, December 22, 2023.
  61. Andrew Tate Was Arrested After Adin Ross Blabbed About His Escape Plans by Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, March 12, 2024.
  62. Andrew Tate's arrest prompted by livestreamer who said Tate was leaving Romania, law firm says by Kat Tenbarge, NBC News, March 12, 2024.
  63. Romanian court grants UK’s request to extradite Andrew Tate, once local legal cases are concluded by Stephen McGrath and Andreea Alexandru, AP News, March 12, 2024.