Muscle bulges, cigars and luxury vehicles: Andrew Tate’s videos fascinate millions of teenagers with his advice for success, but also misogynistic and sometimes violent speeches.
The Briton became one of the most famous ‘influencers’ in the world before finding himself in prison in Romania after an arrest in December on charges of alleged pimping.
The 36-year-old former kick-boxing champion was released from prison on Friday and placed under house arrest, according to a decision by the Bucharest court of appeal.
Both Andrew and his brother Tristan are accused of having deceived "several victims, including minors" of age for the purpose of "sexual exploitation"particularly for the production of pornographic films, according to the Romanian prosecutor’s office.
He defends his innocence and continues to post life lessons on Twitter, where he has 5.5 million followers.
"We will all disappear one day. The difference between me and most people is that when I am gone, the world will still feel my presence."wrote on January 31.
In 2022, Andrew Tate was one of the most searched names on Google. But it wasn’t until the end of December that many adults discovered his name and his influence on young people in the Anglo-Saxon world and beyond.
Greta’s sarcasm
He then engaged in a viral Twitter exchange with climate activist Greta Thunberg.
"Give me your email address so I can send you the complete list of my collection of cars and their huge emissions."he wrote to the militant environmentalist, with a photograph of him filling up the tank of a Bugatti at a gas station.
"Yes please enlighten me. Write to me at energÃadepenepequeño@búscateunavida.com"the Swedish woman replied in English, a message that has already received almost 680,000 retweets.
Andrew Tate was born in 1986 in the United States, a country of which he also has nationality. But he grew up with his mother and his brother in England, in Luton, north London, after his parents separated.
For years, the former world kick-boxing champion has lived in Romania.
He rose to prominence while participating in the UK reality show Big Brother in 2016, but was quickly kicked out after a video of him beating a woman was released.
From then on he turned to social networks.
From there he was also banned for misogynistic messages on networks such as Instagram and TikTok. However, his Twitter account was restored once Elon Musk took over the reins of the platform.
misogynistic speech
created the "hustler university" where he promises, in exchange for paying a subscription, to teach "The secrets that ONLY the richest people know".
"I grew up poor and now I’m a billionaire"he writes on his website. He also talks about his "war room"the combat room whose "mission" is to give "ALL men the means to become the best version of themselves".
"ALL men should be strong"repeat like a mantra.
But it is his speeches about women that arouse even more controversy. "There is no independent woman"he proclaimed on a podcast.
"If a woman doesn’t have a man to direct her, he’s going to screw her up.". Or also: "I’m realist. And when you’re realistic, you’re macho".
He has also described how he would hit a woman who accused him of cheating on him and has defended that women who are assaulted or raped are responsible for it.
Since his arrest, he has changed his speech and quotes Nelson Mandela or the Koran, after having said in October that he had converted to Islam.