For many, he is an unknown name that first appeared in connection with the high-profile Twitter fight with Greta Thunberg a few days ago, when the Swedish climate activist snubbed Andrew Tate when he bragged about all his cars and how much exhaust they emit.
But for others, the 35-year-old from England is a well-known profile that constantly appears in videos, mainly on Tiktok and Youtube, often with misogynistic views, which have made him a wealthy man.
“Harms Women”
The major social media platforms have been repeatedly criticized by, among others, women’s rights organizations for not removing Andrew Tate’s videos, but on the contrary, through their algorithms, directing his most controversial videos to young men, who are at risk of becoming radicalized.
“When children see such material at a young age, it can create values that can harm women and girls at school and online,” says Hannah Ruschen, spokesperson for the British children’s rights organization NSPCC to The Observer newspaper.
Andrew Tate paints himself as a sort of self-help guru for young men, but has been criticized for pro-violence statements about women who should “know their place and obey their husbands”. He has also lent his support to conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, Donald Trump and Brexiteer Nigel Farage.
According to The Observer, which has reviewed Andrew Tate’s business, he runs a kind of online course business called Hustlers University with, according to his own statement, around 170,000 “students” who paid around SEK 500 a month to learn how to become rich.
Andrew Tate got his media breakthrough by appearing in British “Big brother” in 2016. He was kicked out of the program after assaulting a female participant. A year later, he took a stand against the #metoo debate. A long series of controversial statements followed.
But the criticism against him only served to give him several new followers, mainly among young marginalized men who adopt his message online and pass it on.
After speaking openly about abusing several women, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan left the UK after police launched a preliminary investigation into him. For several years now, the Tate brothers have lived in Romania, but also where the police have been looking for them.
The arrest on Thursday follows suspicions of human trafficking and rape. Back in April, the police searched Tate’s home, but the brothers were then released.