Andrew Tate: Five Things to Know

1. Tate is a social media influencer and a self-described misogynist 

Andrew Tate is a British-American former kickboxer and reality television star with millions of social media followers – 8.5 million on X (formerly Twitter) alone. He uses his platform to cannily deliver his disturbing views on rape, relationships and power. Many in his audience are teenagers who are just beginning to understand their own sexuality.  

Tate, who says he is “absolutely a misogynist,” teaches his acolytes that women are inferior and morally deficient beings who are good only for sex and status building, and who deserve to be physically, sexually and emotionally abused. This is typical of Pick Up Artists (or PUAs), who are part of the largely online misogynist “manosphere.” 

Tate posts instructional videos online and directs followers to his paid “Hustler’s University” and “War Room” courses, which run subscribers $50 a month and $8,000 annually, respectively. Among the lessons: If a woman accuses a man of cheating, there’s one appropriate response, according to Tate, who posted the following to his TikTok account: “It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face, you grip her up by the neck, ‘WHAT’S UP BITCH’...you go fuck her. That’s how it goes, you go slap, slap, grab, choke, ‘shut up bitch,’ sex.” TikTok videos of Tate have been viewed some 11.6 billion times, according to reporting by The Guardian.  

While some of Tate’s social media accounts have been removed, his content lives on, thanks to reposts and dozens of fan accounts. 

2. In 2023, Tate was indicted on charges of sex trafficking and rape 

Tate and his brother face multiple charges in Romania, including sex trafficking, rape and forming an organized criminal group. They were arrested in December 2022 and are accused of exploiting seven women from Romania, the U.S. and Britain by seducing them with the promise of a relationship, then holding them against their will, filming them engaging in sex acts and selling the videos.  

Prosecutors allege that Tate raped at least one of the women repeatedly, controlled them by threatening them with violence and financial ruin and posted pornographic videos to the women’s social media accounts.  

The Tate brothers claim the June 2023 indictment, which has been submitted to a Romanian judge for further legal action, is a farce, and demonstrates the power of the “matrix,” a term they use to describe the forces putatively allied against them (which include feminism and international law).  

In August 2023, leaked chats from Tate’s “War Room” appeared to show how subscribers are taught to “manage” women, and in some case groom them for online sex work. 

Tate and his brother were arrested again on March 11, 2024, in Bucharest, Romania, on warrants issued by the U.K. and tied to allegations of sexual aggression. The Tates will be extradited to face the U.K. charges, brought by four women who accuse Andrew Tate of sexual violence and physical abuse, once their legal proceedings in Romania have concluded. 

3. Tate wields considerable power in the manosphere – and beyond 

Tate first appeared on the international stage in 2016 as a controversial contestant on the UK’s “Big Brother” series, and was removed from the show after he was accused of assaulting a woman. He translated his reality television notoriety into a social media following comprised of young men who were eager to achieve the lifestyle he was selling: hypermasculinity, sexual and financial success and a lot of fast cars.   

Today, Tate is a prominent denizen of the manosphere, the toxic online communities where men gather to bemoan their victimhood and blame women for the world’s problems. Some of the groups under this umbrella include involuntary celibates (incels) and so-called Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs).  

The impact of the manosphere’s misogyny shows up in the wreckage of our worst national tragedies: incel language in the manifestos and online footprint of mass shooters, “men’s rights” activists targeting women in shooting sprees across major cities. It’s also reflected in many white supremacist spaces, where men who feel victimized by a changing society target the theoretical beneficiaries of those changes: non-white people and women.  

These groups attract men and boys who are angry, depressed and/or feel victimized by women and society, and reinforce the worst possible iterations of masculinity. Rather than teaching lonely boys and men how to be emotionally resilient, they teach them to lean into their anger, and supplement it with lists of perceived grievances against girls and women. Unfortunately, their impact registers well beyond the manosphere. 

4. Tate personifies the mainstreaming of online misogyny and gendered violence 

In 2022, domestic violence researchers in Australia sounded the alarm about Tate’s growing reach, calling Tate a “predator” who is “radicalizing young men" who will inevitably commit violence. In Britain, school administrators designed a new curriculum to identify and combat Tate’s influence – and the broader issue of misogyny -- among adolescent boys. 

One of the many reasons Tate’s influence is so alarming is that he’s not just telling boys and men that they can be successful, rich and powerful (if they just follow the steps outlined in his paid classes and bootcamps). He’s also teaching them that women deserve violence if they don’t behave a certain way (see Tate’s advice, above, to men on how to “handle” a woman who cheats).  

He also teaches young men that women’s value lies in their youth and lack of sexual experience. In a July 2023 Twitter post, Tate wrote: “Women are born with innate power… But every time someone fucks them… they give some away…. He takes it. And that’s why the most powerful men have slept with endless women, and why the least magical women have slept with endless men.” 

And Tate Is hardly alone in sharing the misogynist gospel across mainstream virtual spaces. In an August 2023 episode of his “Timcast” podcast, which claims more than a million subscribers, right-wing conspiracy theorist Tim Pool urged “high-value men” to start “shaming” women for high “body counts” --- or number of sexual partners.  

5. Tate is a symptom of a broader crisis of online misogyny 

Tate’s brand of misogyny is not confined to fringe spaces like Gab or white supremacist or incel forums. It lives in mainstream online spaces alongside violent threats targeting female politicians, athletes, actors, rape survivors, transgender women and women who dare to exist online.   

In fact, online misogyny is rampant and rising, according to a 2023 study by researchers at #ShePersisted, a global initiative addressing gendered disinformation and online attacks against women. Additional research shows that there are serious repercussions to allowing misogyny to go unchecked, including increased rates of sexual assault and harassment. 

Women who find themselves on the receiving end of online abuse and harassment have little recourse; a 2023 study by the ADL Center for Technology and Society catalogued social media platforms’ near-universal failure to implement features that would provide support for victims of online hate.