scorecardresearch
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeWorldWho is Andrew Tate and how his 'misogynistic' philosophy has gathered legion...

Who is Andrew Tate and how his ‘misogynistic’ philosophy has gathered legion of male fans online

Self-described misogynist, Tate’s beliefs — that women belong at home, can’t drive, and are the property of men — transformed the British-American kickboxer into social media royalty.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

New Delhi: British-American kickboxer Andrew Tate is no run-of-the mill social media celebrity. Known for his corrosive views on women, Tate didn’t just express them — he monetised them. Controversy was Andrew Tate’s brand and he had curated it expertly.

Tate’s December arrest in Romania exposed an avalanche of sexual abuse, assault and trafficking allegations.

Romanian authorities said they seized goods worth nearly 4 million dollars, including luxury vehicles and watches, from the Bucharest home the controversial internet personality shared with his brother Tristan.

The two men, along with two women, have been accused of human trafficking and sexual assault. Six women have been identified as victims, two of whom interviewed with a Romanian news channel.

“One of the women — identified as Beatrice — said she had been ‘good friends’ with the Tate brothers for two years and had ‘Tate Girl’ tattooed on her arm out of respect for them,” reported the BBC. The women worked on Tate’s estate, where aside from his brother, Tate lived with the models who worked with his adult-cam business.

Police are investigating how he lured women to Romania — whether with promises of marriage, money or a serious relationship.

“Some of the girls misunderstood the reality and believed [they would] be his next wife,” Tate’s head of security Bogdan Stancu said in an interview with the BBC.

A self-described misogynist, Tate’s beliefs — that women belong at home, can’t drive, and are the property of men — transfigured the British-American kickboxer into social media royalty. Tate’s posts depicted his ultra-luxurious lifestyle, a fleet of fast cars, lavish houses and an endless stream of women at his beck and call.

Tate moved to Romania from the US in 2017. “One of my reasons is the #MeToo era. People say: ‘Oh you are a rapist.’ No, I am not a rapist, but I like the idea of being able to do what I want, I like being free,” he explained in a TikTok video.

The cult of Andrew Tate

The cult of Andrew Tate has origins in misogyny and violence. Tate frequently shows off his gun collection, and talks about beating women. “It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up bitch,” he says in one video, describing how he would react if a woman accused him of cheating. His videos have been watched 11.6 billion times, making him one of TikTok’s most popular users.

He was banned from Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook in August of last year, though his ideology continues to reverberate through fans.

Stylised as a self-help guru, Tate, who was removed from UK-based TV show Big Brother after a video of him beating a woman with a belt was released online, had legion of adoring men as his followers.

Tate offered a subscription for $49.99 per month to a program called Hustler’s University, which he said would provide “high-income skill development”. The program had 127,000 subscribers earlier this month but has since shut down, says a report in The New York Times.

The Observer found that using Hustlers University as a vehicle, followers were told “to flood social media with videos of him, choosing the most controversial clips in order to achieve maximum views and engagement”.

Experts told The Guardian that this artificial way to boost content was “a blatant attempt to manipulate the algorithm”, and subsequently expanded Andrew Tate’s reach.

Even after being banned, Tate remained in the limelight. The 36-year-old sent a tweet to Greta Thunberg in December — “Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions,” he told the 19-year-old climate activist, in what was construed as an attempt to bully and humiliate.

The exchange, more for Thunberg’s response — “Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com” — is now etched in the annals of Twitter history. It became one of the top 10 tweets of all time.


Also read: Romanian court upholds social influencer Andrew Tate’s 30-day arrest


 

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular