Politicians and prosecutors around the world have their sights trained on Andrew Tate.
The “manosphere” influencer, 38, is under investigation in the U.S., the U.K, and Romania. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 36, have been accused of rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal organization to sexually exploit women. They have denied all of the allegations.
The Tate brothers have been jet-setting since their travel restrictions were lifted earlier this year, making appearances in the U.S. and Dubai. They have also made court-ordered visits back to Romania, where they are awaiting trial.
On Wednesday, the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) in the U.K. confirmed that England is planning to pursue 21 charges against the Tate brothers after Romanian authorities are finished with their own case. In a media advisory shared with Rolling Stone, a CPS spokesperson said that these charges were authorized in 2024 and serve as a reminder “that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendants have the right to a fair trial.”
CPS stressed that “there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings,” but that didn’t stop Tate from issuing his own statement that sought to undermine the case against him.
On Thursday, Tate posted a nearly 5-minute video on X (formerly Twitter), where he has over 10 million followers. It is one of the few platforms where Tate is allowed to have his own account, after Elon Musk restored his profile in 2022. Previously, Tate was banned from Twitter in 2017 for posting that women need to take some responsibility for sexual violence committed against them.
In the video, Tate compared himself to President Donald Trump, calling the U.K. charges against him “a political witch hunt” and a “set-up.” CPS said that the 10 charges against Tate include rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain in connection with three victims. Tate said the charges stem from incidents 11 years ago, and that he has not been given the names of the accusers.
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He and Tristan are using the latest developments in their criminal cases to bolster their online profiles, where they sell get-rich-quick schemes that have, in the past, involved recruiting women into online sex work and keeping their profits. Their notoriety and ideology has allowed them to curry favor with members of the Trump family and administration, but their arrival in the U.S. in February resulted in another investigation in Florida.
The renewed attention around Tate follows a high-profile year for the “manosphere,” online communities that tout masculinity, misogyny, and men’s rights while opposing feminism, sometimes going as far as to advocate for a rollback of women’s rights. Tate is one of the figures most heavily associated with the genre and was name-dropped in the British crime drama Adolescence, which shot to number one on Netflix and followed the story of a young boy who murdered a girl in his class.
Tate railed against mainstream media portrayals of him in his video responding to the latest allegations, saying “What they are doing to me, they will do to you.”
A lawyer representing Andrew and Tristan Tate did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tate brothers were born in the U.S. to an American father, who was an international chess master, and an English mother. After spending their early childhood in the U.S., the brothers moved to the U.K. with their mother and finished school there. Andrew pursued kickboxing and appeared on the British reality series Big Brother in 2016. He was let go from the show after six days and said it was because of a video that had spread online that appeared to show him striking a woman with a belt (Tate said the events shown in the video were consensual).
Years later, in 2023, a Vice investigation revealed that Tate was removed from Big Brother after the show’s producers discovered he was under investigation for rape and assault in the U.K. Vice reported that Tate was first arrested there in 2015, after two women filed complaints. Later that year, a third woman reported Tate to the police, supplying a text message he sent her that said, “I love raping you.” Tate was arrested again that year, but in 2019, the CPS declined to file charges, citing “an ounce of doubt.”
Lawyer Matt Jury of McCue Jury & Partners, who represents multiple alleged British victims of Tate in connection with these charges, said in a statement shared with Rolling Stone that the CPS should “admit its mistake in failing to prosecute Tate when he lived in the U.K. and finally charge him for the rape and assault of the other three women, our clients, who originally filed criminal complaints against him as long ago as 2014 but were failed by the system. They deserve justice, too.” CPS did not respond to a question about why it changed course now.
In 2024, while Tate and his brother were awaiting trial in Romania, CPS issued a European Arrest Warrant. Romanian courts ordered the extradition of the brothers to the U.K. following the completion of their own domestic judicial process. In December, British police also seized more than £2 million in assets after finding that Tate had not paid enough in taxes.
While facing charges in the U.K., in 2017, Tate moved to Romania with his brother, citing what he believed to be more lax restrictions around how he could conduct his personal life and business. In April 2022, Romanian police raided the compound he shared with Tristan and others after receiving a report that an American citizen was being held there against her will. Officials said they found four women working out of a webcam studio, two of whom said they were being held against their will.
In December 2022, Andrew and Tristan were arrested alongside two Romanian women on suspicion of human trafficking and organized crime. Romanian authorities also seized nearly $4 million in assets from the compound. In 2023, the charges were adjusted to encompass seven alleged victims. All four deny the charges against them.
In December 2024, the Romanian case was set back by an appeals court finding that prosecutors had failed to adequately explain the charges to one alleged victim. Some witness statements were also deemed inadmissible. As a result, the case has not yet been able to go to trial. The Tate brothers are also facing a separate case in Romania that involves allegations of trafficking minors and of sexual intercourse with a minor. While both cases are ongoing, neither has reached a point where a trial date has been set.
In his video on Thursday, Tate claimed that he fought a “questionable” judicial system in Romania “and won.” In reality, he is still under investigation. He and Tristan have to make regular check-ins with police in the country, although a ban on their travel was lifted. They have both denied all of them allegations made against them in Romania.
In February, Andrew and Tristan were permitted to leave Romania and travel to the U.S. and elsewhere after the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration had pressured Romanian authorities to lift restrictions on the Tate brothers. But they weren’t met with a warm welcome in Florida.
The American woman who told Romanian authorities that she was working for the Tate brothers against her will was from Palm Beach County, Florida. In 2023, the brothers sued her, her parents, and two others in a defamation case seeking $5 million. She responded with her own civil suit accusing the brothers of defaming her.
When the Tate brothers touched down in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed that their “conduct” made them unwelcome in the state, and state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced an ongoing criminal investigation within a day of their arrival, seeking information on whether the state had jurisdiction to prosecute the brothers. Uthmeier said the investigation continued even as the Tates made appearances in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. In statements, Tate has denied that he and his brother have committed any crimes in Florida or elsewhere.
While in L.A. in March, a woman named Brianna Stern said that Tate assaulted her in a hotel room after abusing her throughout their relationship, which she said began in July 2024. She filed a civil complaint later that month. Tate denies these allegations, too.
As the criminal and civil cases pile up, Tate insists that he is being punished by “The Matrix,” a shadowy group of forces who are threatened by Tate’s influence. He has continued to leverage the allegations to advertise his businesses to young men.
From Rolling Stone US
