The controversial social media star, Andrew Tate, was reportedly arrested in Romania on Friday, December 30, along with his brother Tristan Tate over an investigation in a human trafficking and rape case. Citing the Romanian news outlet Libertatea, Sport Bible UK reported that Tate’s home in Romania was searched in connection with the kidnapping of two girls.
Tate, who is known for his controversial behaviour on social media, was in the news recently after he got involved in an ugly spat with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter.
How Greta Thunberg led to Tate's arrest
Tate recently boasted about having "33 cars," and asked Greta Thunberg to provide her email address, so that he can send her the complete list.
Here’s Thunberg’s savage response.
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
After this, Tate published a short video response to Thunberg’s reply. As per reports, Tate’s video response to Thunberg led to his arrest. Romanian authorities needed proof of his being in the country and they identified the Pizza boxes of a Romanian Pizza Chain in Tate’s video to confirm that.
Who is Andrew Tate?
Emory Andrew Tate is a social media influencer and former kickboxer with 76 wins and nine losses to show in his career.
Tate had his first dalliance with a public spotlight through the 2016 season of the UK's television reality show, Big Brother. However, it lasted only six days as Tate was shortly kicked out of the show.
Tate then became famous as an online personality promising to show boys and men how to “escape the matrix,” which is how to become wealthier and more successful with women.
His popularity soared after videos of him went viral on TikTok and the hashtag #AndrewTate soon accumulated 12.7 billion views on the platform. Tate soon gained a huge following on other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Later, Tate founded “Hustler’s University,” a private online academy (not an accredited educational institution). In his affiliate marketing academy, members paid a monthly membership fee for the courses about drop shipping and cryptocurrency trading.
Andrew Tate's Hustlers University subscription program was closed, shortly after he was banned from all major social media platforms, as per a Guardian report.
All Tate's controversies
Time and again, Tate has received criticism for his misogynistic and hateful comments on social media.
In 2016, Tate was kicked off the 17th season of Big Brother after a video surfaced showing him hitting a woman with a belt.
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In 2017, he criticised the #MeToo movement and stated that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped. Due to these controversial statements, he was barred from Twitter.
He had also posted homophobic and racial slurs on his Twitter account prior to being banned.
He often talks about having multiple partners and even once opined that men can be in multiple relationships, but not women.
Tate once said in a YouTube video that he likes to reside in Romania as it’s relatively easier to get free if rape charges are levelled against you there. He later deleted the controversial video.
His controversial statements and comments finally caught up with him, and he was banned from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as well.
However, he had his Twitter account restored when the new Twitter CEO, Elon Musk reinstated several banned accounts. Since then, Tate has reportedly amassed 1.5 million followers on the platform.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani/Shoma)
First Published: Dec 30, 2022 12:48 PM IST
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