By Kendall Mcleroy
Andrew Tate has claimed his place as a stand out figure across a multitude of social media platforms for his misogynistic and hyper masculine views and politics. Through his podcast Jet Talk and his paid online “college courses” Hustler´s University, Tate has been given, not only a vast platform to dish his problematic opinions, but also a major cash inflow from the those unfortunate enough to be suckered into his $50.00 monthly course, where you can even earn a PhD, or “p*mpin’ h*es degree” for just under $350.00 USD. So how does an anti-woman, propaganda peddling, Harvey Weinstein apologist garner such a massive following?
Emory Andrew Tate III, born December 14, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois to a professional chess playing father and his British immigrant mother, made his emergence into the public eye at 17 through his career competing as a kickboxer professionally in both lightweight and heavyweight championships. His kickboxing career was more than successful, earning him the title of “three time ISKA Kickboxing World Champion and Enfusion live champion.” According to Tate, he had only taken nine losses in his career, but his life as a champion kickboxer was short lived.
Tate left the ring at 28 years of age and quickly picked up a career in social media influencing and was later picked up by popular reality show, Big Brother UK. Though, his stay on the show was also short lived following a surfaced video of Tate repeatedly beating a woman with a belt while hurling derogatory words at her, urging her to “count her bruises.” Following his eviction from the Big Brother house, Tate pushed back against allegations. A post made through his FaceBook profile accounts, “They cut out all the sound cause she’s LAUGHING in the video. And they cut off the end of the video where she gets the belt and hits me back while we’re both laughing…It was 2012 and we were having a laugh.”
His disregard for the concerns brought up involving his treatment of women can best be described through his Twitter activity following the popularity of the #MeToo movement. His since removed tweets detail a perverted view of how sexual abuse occurs and can be considered to have the tonality of someone victim blaming. One such tweet reads, “Women have been exchanging sex for opportunity for a very long time. Some did this. Weren’t abused … If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bare some responsibility.” Though this specific account has been banned from the Twitter platform for a multitude of community guideline violations, this did nothing to slow Tate’s reach.
Following the prevalence of the #MeToo movement, Tate as well as his brother Tristan made the move from the States across the globe to Romania due to the lax laws on sexual assault and the rampant corruption in the Romanian justice department. “I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.” And free he was. During his time in Romania, he managed to make a name for himself in the casino industry, soon to be considered one of the giants in the trade. While many would think the COVID-19 pandemic would have dampened his success in the casino industry, Tate´s casinos stayed open to the public during a time when most others had been closed to the public indefinitely. Tate later implied in a video that the Romanian police were “in his pocket,” making his following scandals significantly more dubious.
Andrew Tate, while mostly associated with his media presence and his phony multi-level-marketing scheme-esque university, has other, more sinister financial conquests. Andrew and Tristan Tate concocted an, admittedly, successful business model involving various women under the Tate brother’s employment selling sob stories to desperate men across the internet on their privately owned webcamming platform. This has raked in millions for the brothers, claiming that 40% of their income goes to the operators while the rest reportedly goes to their studio. This business venture has earned them 22 cars between the two, including two Lamborghinis, a Rolls-Royce, an Ashton Martin Valhalla, and a Bugatti. It can be assumed by anyone that the website was a scam and a ploy to fish money out of men who believed in their connections to the women the brothers employed through their website. However, you’d never have to jump to those conclusions due to the brother´s openness about their sham webcamming business. Tristan brags to the Daily Mirror that, “it’s all a big scam…no one cares…it’s their problem not mine.”
As of recently, the Tate brothers have come under fire in a more serious sense after photos of the Romanian police raiding the home that the brothers share. Later photos of Tristan Tate being arrested under suspicions of human trafficking, only to later be released due to lack of evidence. Allegedly, the brothers had invited an American woman to their home in Romania to party, only for them to later hold her against her will. Andrew Tate responded to the raid along with his brother in an episode of their podcast by stating that the report to the U.S State Department had come from the jilted boyfriend of the supposedly kidnapped woman, pushing her to then lie in order to preserve her relationship and dignity. In light of the Tate brother´s response, the U.S State department had declined to make comment on the raid or the progress in their investigation.
So in summation, the question still stands. How has this man amassed such a fevered and dedicated base of supporters? It can be proposed that his creation and popularization of the “manosphere” and the normalization of blatant sexism has given like minded men a beacon to follow. His “I don´t care,” wealthy, playboy, cigar smoking persona has most definitely drawn in a large number of followers wanting to emulate his public persona. As of now, the status and reputation of the Tate brother’s empire hangs in the balance.
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