How ‘misogynist influencer’ Andrew Tate went from Big Brother star to human trafficking suspect

Self-described “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan – who recently flew to the US after facing rape and human-trafficking charges in Romania – are now being investigated for similar crimes in Florida.

Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier said on Tuesday (4 March) he had instructed his office to “work with our law enforcement partners to conduct a preliminary inquiry” into the Tate brothers.

“Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers,” Uthmeier said.

The Tate brothers’ lawyer Joseph McBride released a statement later the same day, which began: “Today, Attorney General James Uthmeier threw ethics law out of the window when he publicly took a side in an ongoing Florida lawsuit where Andrew and Tristan Tate are suing a Florida woman for orchestrating a sophisticated plot to use sex as a weapon to ruin their lives.”

The brothers, who are dual US-British citizens, have gained millions of followers for their controversial brand of hyper masculine, sexist content – including saying women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted – set to a backdrop of luxury cars and clothes, much of which has appealed to young men and boys.

Andrew Tate was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in August 2022 for his extreme content but was eventually reinstated on Twitter, renamed as X, following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.

The brothers were arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged with sexual offences, human trafficking and money laundering, with prosecutors also claiming they “appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women, by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites, for a cost”.

Alongside the investigations in Romania, British authorities have also sought the brothers’ arrest on charges of rape and human trafficking.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

The pair landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 27 February after a travel ban put in place by the Romanian authorities was lifted. It was reported earlier in February that the Trump administration had allegedly put pressure on Romanian authorities to lift a travel ban, however when asked by a reporter about the claims Trump said: “I know nothing about that.”

Addressing the US investigation directly, Tate said on the PBD Podcast – hosted by Patrick Bet-David – that Florida governor and former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis had caved to media pressure when he said that the Tate brothers were not welcome in the state.

“I don’t know why Ron’s answer wasn’t, ‘He has an American passport. The judicial system in Romania, which I know absolutely nothing about, decided to let him fly, and he’s flown to his home country. As far as we’re concerned, he’s broken no laws,’” Tate said.

“Instead, what he did was say: ‘We’re going to get our attorney general to try and find some laws he’s broken and wreck this man who’s done nothing inside of the United States ever.’”

Andrew Tate’s time on Big Brother UK

Before he was known as the ‘king of toxic masculinity’, Tate was a professional kickboxer and gained widespread public attention – and scrutiny – when he appeared on the 17th series of British reality TV show Big Brother in 2016.

Tate entered the Big Brother house as part of a second, secret group of contestants known as “The Others” but only lasted six days on the show before he was removed due to “events outside the house”.

Remember when Big Brother UK icon Natalie left Andrew Tate speechless lmao?

That man was terrified of her #bbuk pic.twitter.com/jLSHWkpqbe

— Andrew (@bigtimeEST) October 15, 2023

During the run of the series, it was revealed Tate had made a series of homophobic and racist posts on social media including using slurs such as “f*g”, “c****y”, “p**i”, and “w*g”. A video also came to light which shows Tate striking a woman with a belt. Both he and the woman said the video was made with the consent of both parties.

“Big Brother does not condone any kind of racist or homophobic behaviour in the House,” a Channel 5 spokesperson told Digital Spy at the time.

Andrew Tate’s anti-LGBTQ+ controversies

Andrew Tate has had a lot to say about the LGBTQ+ community over the years, and none of it is very positive.

Prior to his Big Brother days, Tate published a social media post in which he attacked LGBTQ+ inclusive education, pushing the old conspiracy theory that learning about queer people will “turn” your child queer.

“They are teaching gay issues to 7-yr old kids. BY LAW,” he wrote.

“A pure homosexual can not reproduce, so they need your children for new partners. OK”

Following his move to Romania in 2017, Tate said of the central European nation: ”Romania is a beautiful place. There’s no feminists, there’s no open homosexuality. [….] No homosexual agenda.”

In Romania, same-sex relationships are legal but LGBTQ+ people cannot marry or adopt children and face significant societal discrimination.

Across Tate’s social media videos he has frequently used anti-LGBTQ+ slurs including “f*g”, “f****t” and “t****y”, including one unprompted video where he talks about whether men should have sex with a trans woman “who looks like Megan Fox” or a trans man who is like “Hulk Hogan” and what is considered “less gay”.

Appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored in 2022, Tate was quizzed by Morgan on his views on trans folks and hit back at claims he is transphobic, saying allegations of transphobia are often lumped in with allegations of racism and sexism – which he denied despite being a self-proclaimed misogynist.

"Do you support transgender people?"

Piers Morgan finds out more about Andrew Tate's notions of masculinity and gender.@piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #MorganTate | #PMU pic.twitter.com/S4UnknILgL

— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) October 7, 2022

A couple of years later, Andrew Tate was vocal in his criticism of YouTube star Mr Beast supporting his trans friend and collaborator Kris Tyson, by saying Tyson is part of a “psyop”.

In subsequent years, Tate has also used LGBTQ+ terms as a source of insult, calling the Haka – a ceremonial dance in Māori culture – “gay”.

“The Haka is gay. Sorry New Zealand, all that screaming and dancing just to get owned by gunpowder,” Tate wrote on X, to fierce criticism.  

Bizarrely, Tate has also taken to social media to suggest that heterosexual men having heterosexual sex with heterosexual women for pleasure is “gay”.

“Sex is for making children. Any man who has sex with women because it “feels good” is gay. Oh my pee pee feels good this is great! In fact if you are 40 with less than 5 children you’re probably gay. All that feel-good pee pee sex and hardly any genetic legacy?,” he wrote in the strange post.

What’s next for Andrew Tate?

Although the Tate brothers have been allowed to leave Romania for the first time in the more than two years since they were arrested, they are still criminally charged and remain under “judicial supervision,” The Washington Post reports.

This requires them to answer to Romanian officials, “including appearing before authorities when summoned,” Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism said in a statement.

Their relocation to the US has also cast doubt on what will happen to a previous agreement to extradite the brothers to the UK after legal proceedings in Romania ended.

Four women have sued Andrew Tate in the UK, accusing him of sexually abusing them. Their lawyer has said they are “absolutely distraught” about what they see as American interference in their case, the BBC reported.