Andrew Tate served: How did we get here?

Content warning: mentions of sexual violence.

Earlier this week, The Lead broke the news that four British victims of Andrew Tate had served him with civil proceedings at his home in Romania. 

The four women accuse Tate of rape and assault, seeking damages for injuries they suffered as a result.

The American-British “alpha-male” social media influencer is already subject to two other legal actions, including a criminal prosecution in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape and a criminal prosecution in the UK on charges of rape and trafficking. 

The latest claim now brings the reported number of women victims of Tate and his brother’s alleged crimes to a total of 14.

The civil proceedings served this week – which include allegations of rape and serious sexual and physical assault – came from victims who previously had their cases thrown out by the Hertfordshire Constabulary. Three of the victims told police that Tate had raped and physically assaulted them between 2014 and 2015. Yet, a four-year-long investigation led by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ended in no prosecutions. As a result, the victims now resort to private litigation - which appears to be their one remaining route to justice. 

Last year, VICE World News reported on WhatsApp messages and voice notes sent by Andrew Tate to one of the women accusing him of rape. In one of them, Tate wrote, “I love raping you”. In another, the former kickboxer is heard to be saying, “Am I a bad person? Because the more you didn’t like it, the more I enjoyed it. I fucking loved how much you hated it. It turned me on. Why am I like that? Why?”

The self-proclaimed misogynist gained popularity after his appearance on Big Brother in 2016 was cut short by producers, who claimed that they had seen a video in which he appeared to hit a woman with a belt. Tate said the video was edited – “a total lie trying to make me look bad”. 

Tate has over 9 million followers on Twitter. In 2022, he was banned from YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. He was also banned from Twitter in October 2017 after posting inflammatory tweets, including one post that said: “If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bare some responsibility. I'm not saying it's OK you got raped.” 

His account was reinstated in November 2022, after Twitter-owner Elon Musk brought back several accounts under the platform’s “freedom of speech” policy which he assured people was not "freedom of reach”. Musk said that: "Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted and demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won't find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet."

Tate has been criticised for his online business ‘Hustlers’ University’, a site which bills itself as “the world’s most advanced financial education platform” and promises to equip men with the skills to enable them to “escape ‘the Matrix’”.  

Some who took part in the $49 a month programme have now warned others against it, describing the experience as like being inside a cult or “slave labour”. They say participants are deprived of sleep and made to spend hours every day editing and publishing videos that glorify Tate and his interests. One lawyer said the scheme was akin to “digital grooming”. Last September, Apple and Google Pay removed Tate’s ‘Real World Portal’ app from their online stores, which is what ‘Hustler’s University’ has rebranded to. Regardless, Tate claims to have over 200,000 students inside the private community.

Tate has repeatedly asserted his innocence and suggested that the criminal charges against him are part of a wider political conspiracy to silence his views. Last month, after it was ruled that Tate would be extradited following the conclusion of legal proceedings, the influencer said he “unequivocally” denied the charges, adding that he and his brother Tristan are “very innocent men and in time everybody's going to see that”.