Andrew Tate was accused of rape and human trafficking. It didn't matter
Days before Donald Trump returned to the White House, Andrew Tate received some good news.
Tate and his brother Tristan, a pair of loudmouthed influencers from the so-called manosphere, had been under criminal investigation in Romania since 2022, accused of coercing women to participate in pornography. Andrew was also accused of rape, and of having sexual relations with and beating a 15-year-old girl. The brothers, citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom, were prohibited from leaving Romania while prosecutors prepared their case.
Now, in a text message on January 14, Tate said help was on the way.
“The Trump administration told me they are taking care of everything,” Tate wrote to a person close to him in a message analyzed by The New York Times. “They told me I'll be free soon, but Trump needs to see me in Miami,” he added.
The following month, an extraordinary order came from the highest levels of the Romanian government, a Times investigation found. Prosecutors were told to reach a deal with the Tates. Despite their misgivings, they lifted travel restrictions, a move the Romanian prime minister believed would appease the Trump administration.
“We're back, big time,” a smiling Tate announced in a video recorded for his followers on February 27, while a private plane transported the brothers to Florida.
Their arrival in the United States caused an unusual division among conservatives and raised suspicions that the White House may have intervened. The Times found that support from Trump administration officials played a crucial role.
Interviews with dozens of people in Romania, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as a review of hundreds of pages of court documents and private messages, offer the most comprehensive account to date of how the Tates emerged from a fringe corner of the internet to become a right-wing cause célèbre. The brothers' release from Romania was the culmination of a years-long effort by Andrew to forge alliances with Trump advisers and relatives.
The Tates have helped fuel a brazenly chauvinistic movement around the world, even as they racked up accusations of human trafficking and physical violence in several countries. They deny having committed any crimes. But Andrew, 39, and Tristan, 37, have boasted of recruiting women to produce lucrative sexual content and selling courses teaching young men to follow in their footsteps.
Interview with Andrew Tate conducted by Anthony Dream Johnson and posted to YouTube in 2019.
As his notoriety grew, Andrew Tate skillfully sought to curry favor with Tucker Carlson and other right-wing media figures, who in turn leveraged the brothers' loyal following to expand their own reach.
Andrew also cultivated relationships with Donald Trump Jr. and his younger brother, Barron, who recognized the role that young male voters could play in his father's return to office. power.
Barron, now 19, admired Andrew and spoke with him via Zoom last year, according to Justin Waller, a mutual friend who participated in the video call. During the conversation, he said, they discussed their shared belief that the criminal case in Romania was an attempt to silence the Tates.
After Trump's re-election, some Tate supporters ascended to the new government. One of them, diplomatic envoy Richard Grenell, spoke twice about their case with Romanian officials, the Times investigated.
A few days after the second conversation, Romanian prosecutors were instructed and, having long maintained that the brothers posed a public danger and a flight risk, granted them freedom to travel. Prosecutors were outraged, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The brothers' release unsettled many American diplomats, who feared the arrival of a murky new era in foreign relations. It also provoked hostility from many traditional conservatives, from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to commentator Megyn Kelly, who said: “This is toxic masculinity.” Some compared the Tates to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
His return also led to a new assault allegation, brought by a girlfriend who said Andrew beat and strangled her shortly after his arrival in the United States. Prosecutors declined to press charges, but she filed a lawsuit against him and obtained a restraining order. He is suing her for defamation.
In a statement to the Times, Romanian prosecutors said the country's constitution requires them to act independently and that the measures taken in the Tate case were legal. Marcel Ciolacu, who was prime minister when the Tates were freed, did not respond to requests for comment.
A White House official said he had no knowledge of or involvement in anything related to the Tates' legal affairs. The official did not respond to questions about Barron. Donald Trump Jr. did not respond to a request for comment.
The Tates' lawyer said the Times' findings about Andrew and Barron were “fake news.”
After more than two years of confinement, the brothers have taken advantage of their new freedom to resume their life of luxury and travel, and to reinforce their brand. They've visited Kanye West, had pool parties with beautiful women, and promoted their business to supporters chanting their names.
“I'm in Dubai, I'm still rich, I'm just earning,” Andrew said in a video posted in April of him driving away in a Bugatti.
But his legal troubles haven't gone away. The Romanian case is moving forward, and once concluded, the brothers will face human trafficking and rape charges in the United Kingdom.
And in the United States, the Times found, Department of Homeland Security counter-trafficking agents have been investigating the Tates for years.
Using outrage for money and fame
Andrew Tate achieved modest fame as a professional kickboxer in the 1990s. 2010, but by his own account, he didn't start making real money until he and his brother entered the porn business.
In 2015, the Tates had installed women in apartments and a hotel room in the United Kingdom to perform live on webcams for paying clients. Andrew later described how the brothers courted attractive women, convinced them to enter the business and kept most of the profits.
“It's not just about picking up girls,” Tate said in an interview posted on YouTube. “It's about making them love you enough to move in with you, work for you and give you all the money.”
Both brothers have had altercations with the British police. Tristan was arrested in 2014 when a woman reported that he had assaulted her.
The following year, Andrew was arrested three times, police said. A woman who had worked for him claimed in court documents that he had strangled her during sex; another said he had raped and beaten her and pointed a gun at her; a third woman said he had raped and strangled her while they were leaving.
Authorities did not file charges against either brother. However, Andrew said the scrutiny motivated him to leave the UK.
One day, he recalled on a podcast years later, he woke up and said: “I will not live under a government that does this to me when I have done nothing wrong.” He and Tristan moved to Romania, a country they had gotten to know through the professional fighting circuit. There, Andrew said on another show, "you can do things you can't do in the West and get away with it."
Now based in Romania, the brothers ran their webcam business from there, and also in the United Kingdom.
When Andrew landed a spot on the British reality show Big Brother in 2016, few knew about their business or the assault allegations.
However, before long, few knew about their business or the assault allegations. was fired, after a tabloid obtained a video in which he spanked a friend with a belt. Both said it had been consensual.
The scandal boosted his fame, especially on social networks, where he became a fervent supporter of Trump. Donald Trump Jr. liked one of her messages of support on Twitter and they soon agreed to meet, Tate recalled in a podcast. In 2017 he went to Trump Tower.
“We still DM each other every couple of days,” Tate said on the podcast, in 2018.
By 2022, he and Tristan They had gained millions of followers by preaching mental and physical discipline, entrepreneurship, and the subjugation of women. They had expanded the porn business to TikTok, OnlyFans and other platforms, and were selling their courses to young men. One of them was called PHD, which stands for “pimping hoes degree.” In the previous eight years, they had earned at least 21 million pounds (nearly $28 million), according to records from a British court that found they had evaded taxes.
Interview with Andrew Tate conducted by James English and posted to YouTube in 2021. Mr. Tate discusses his beliefs about the inferiority of women.
When Andrew was banned from various social media platforms and censored by high school teachers, his notoriety only increased. Then he became one of the most searched people on Google.
In December 2022, the brothers were arrested in Romania; With the court's approval, they were imprisoned for three months. Prosecutors later accused them of forming an organized criminal group and trafficking seven women, and charged Andrew with rape. The 360-page sealed indictment, obtained by the Times, said the Tates had deceived the women. making them believe they were in long-term relationships, and then coercing them into working in pornography. According to prosecutors, the brothers kept an eye on them, limited their movements and docked part of their pay if they cried on camera or broke other rules.
Text messages cited in the indictment show Andrew Tate and a woman talking about what would happen if she traveled to Romania.
Woman
do you want me to be your slave or your wife?
Andrew Tate
you'll do whatever I tell you
which is the same thing
if I choose a woman to be my wife, she'll love me enough to let me tell her what I feel like
I WILL DECIDE if she's a slave
WOMAN: do you want me to be your slave or your wife? / ANDREW TATE: you will do what I tell you / which is the same / if I choose a woman to be my wife, she will love me enough to let me tell her what I feel like / I WILL DECIDE if she is a slave
When she arrived, he raped her twice; and in one of them he forced her to have group sex, according to the indictment.
Andrew strangled another woman so hard that the blood vessels in her eye burst, prosecutors said.
In a text message chat titled “PIMPS,” Tristan and two associates discussed how to punish a woman who said she would no longer work for them.
Tristan Tate
The move now is as follows.
Associate 1
ok
Tristan Tate
both of you go, get her out of the house
Associate 2
Ok
Tristan Tate
hit her if you have to, I don't care
don't let her take her things
Associate 2
thanks
Ok
TRISTAN TATE: What needs to be done is this. / ASSOCIATE 1: ok / TRISTAN TATE: they both go, they take her out of the house / ASSOCIATE 2: ok / TRISTAN TATE: hit her if necessary, I don't care / don't let her grab your things / ASSOCIATE 2: thank you / ok
They threw the woman to the ground and dragged her out of the house, she and witnesses told prosecutors.
Romania, long known as a hub of sex trafficking, has expanded its prosecutions to include so-called Lover Boy cases, based on romance, psychological coercion and threats. The accusation against the Tates acknowledged that two of the women named as victims said they did not see themselves that way. Prosecutors said the evidence showed otherwise.
Press releases announcing the arrest, indictment, and subsequent restrictions on the Tates' movements made headlines around the world. But when facing the possibility of prison, Tate did not avoid controversy. He took advantage of it.
From Tucker to Barron
After his arrest, Tate hired Joseph McBride, a lawyer who had defended Trump supporters accused of participating in the Capitol insurrection. Before long, McBride was promoting his brash new client to conservative host Tucker Carlson.
In some ways, it was an odd pairing. Carlson was a proud married man who promoted Christian family values. However, he had been kicked out of Fox News after lawsuits exposed offensive language used in private messages he sent to colleagues. He was creating his own show on Twitter. And Tate, who had been reinstated by Elon Musk on the platform, had millions of followers there.
In an interview with the Times, McBride recalled telling Carlson that if he flew to Romania to meet with Andrew, “I know we will break the internet.”
He was right. The one from 2023, recorded in the Tate's luxurious home on the outskirts of Bucharest, has accumulated more than 112 million views.
They spent much of the two and a half hour conversation talking about their shared beliefs, including what they considered a left-wing war against masculinity. Carlson did not press Tate about his porn operation or his previous comments about the exploitation of women.
Carlson misrepresented the criminal allegations in Romania, saying they did not involve sexual crimes or violence, or any actions that could be considered human trafficking.
“That's not actually human trafficking,” Carlson said of the accusations. “I don't care what you call it, you weren't buying, you weren't even accused of buying and selling to anyone.”
When asked recently about the interview, Carlson told the Times: “If I was wrong in their imputation or I was wrong in the facts, I sincerely apologize.”
And he added: “That doesn't change my opinion that the Tates, regardless of their personal behavior, had a worthwhile message.” listen.”
Interview with Andrew Tate conducted by Tucker Carlson and posted to Twitter in 2023.
The interview helped burnish Tate's reputation. Charlie Kirk, a conservative youth organizer and Trump adviser, was among those who listened to the interview.
“Now I understand why it's popular,” Kirk said on his podcast. Although he expressed revulsion at Tate's pornography business, he agreed that masculinity was under attack. “He's touching on something he's not allowed to say, and there's a lot of truth in it.”
Candace Owens, another popular podcast host, flew to Romania and conducted her own interview accommodating Tate. He told his audience that it was a mistake to judge him by his previous comments or the flashy content he posted.
“That's how guys have fun,” he said, “the same way girls sit around talking about Real Housewives.”
In other interviews, Tate drew parallels he saw between himself and Trump: both banned from social media, both criminally prosecuted, both victims of political attacks.
In September 2023, Trump shared on Truth Social, his social media platform, a video of Tristan defending him. “Thank you!” Trump wrote.
McBride, the brothers' lawyer, argued their case in meetings with members of Congress, according to an interview he gave to Republican activist Roger Stone. McBride stated that both male and female legislators were “outraged” by the treatment of the brothers.
Don Jr. also showed his support. “As far as I'm concerned, there are people attacking you,” he told Tate in a June 2024 conversation broadcast live on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “They just want to silence you.”
Barron, his younger brother, was also a fan.
That spring, while his father was trying to win over young male voters on the campaign trail, the teenager hosted a dinner for influencers at Mar-a-Lago. Among them was Waller, who has helped manage the Tates' courses and told the Times that many consider him the “third brother.”
As Waller said, the conversation that night went from “hurling degenerate expletives” to discussing possible running mates for Trump, who also made an appearance and agreed to participate. on the podcast of another guest, Patrick Bet-David.
Waller has tried to play a “big brother” role to Barron, he said, visiting Mar-a-Lago and talking to him about dating. The president's youngest son "is not a bad ally; let's be frank," he said.
He and Barron spoke with Andrew over Zoom last year, Waller said, while Waller's tailor fitted the teen with a custom-made suit. Although they discussed the Romania case, Barron did not mention anything about helping the Tates, Waller said. They also talked about supporting Trump's presidential campaign on their online platforms.
That summer, when a young man tried to assassinate Trump, Tate told reporters that he had spoken with Barron after the shooting.
“I'm very close to the Trump family,” he added. “I hope, once I am free, to be able to be in person with Donald Trump and remind him that he is an invincible guy.”
Allies rise
When Andrew wrote in January that the Trump administration was “taking care of everything,” he did not name names.
But several of his supporters had found positions in the incoming administration.
Paul Ingrassia, who was initially named White House liaison to the Department of Justice, had been part of the Tate legal team. Alina Habba, an adviser to the president who would later briefly serve as New Jersey's top prosecutor, told Andrew on a podcast in January: “I've got you covered here.
And Grenell, a special presidential envoy, privately discussed the Tates case with Romanian officials, the Times has learned.
Last December he met at Mar-a-Lago with Victor Ponta, an adviser to the Romanian prime minister.
Ponta had traveled to Trump's club in Florida to network with the president's inner circle. elected, he told the Times in an interview in Bucharest. His country was on the defensive over the way a presidential election had been handled. Its highest court had annulled the first round of voting, citing evidence that Russia had meddled on behalf of the winner, a far-right candidate. Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk, among other American conservatives, accused Romania of undermining democracy.
Ponta sensed that informal diplomacy would be an important part of the new Trump administration. And Grenell, who would soon negotiate the release of several American detainees in Venezuela, was already establishing himself as an influential figure.
When asked by the Times if he and Grenell had discussed the Tate case, Ponta said they had. “Maybe he saw himself freeing all the American hostages in the world,” he said, without elaborating.
Last month, Ponta backed down. In a text message exchange with the Times, he said he didn't remember if he and Grenell had talked about the Tates. He later said he was sure not.
Grenell also discussed the Tate case in mid-February, with then Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu, when they met at a security conference in Munich, as first reported by The Financial Times.
Grenell questioned the way the encounter had been described, saying in a statement to the Times that it had been exaggerated in the media. “I just ran into him in the hallway,” she said. The Foreign Secretary asked him if he still agreed with an old tweet showing support for the Tates, he said, and he replied yes. “I've never met the Tate brothers, I've never been to Romania,” Grenell said. His statement did not mention the Mar-a-Lago conversation.
Shortly after the Munich conference, the Prime Minister on social media said that the United States had not made any requests or demands anything from Romania.
'The Escape of the Tates'
By then, the Tates' legal problems were mounting.
In the United Kingdom, the women who had accused Andrew of rape and assault a decade earlier They had sued him through civil proceedings. And prosecutors had authorized trafficking and rape charges against the brothers based on allegations involving three other women.
In the United States, Homeland Security anti-trafficking agents had been conducting interviews about the Tates, according to people familiar with confidential investigation. The agents were working with federal prosecutors who would ultimately secure the conviction of Sean Combs, the music mogul known as “Diddy.” Both offices declined to comment.
In Romania, a judge had invalidated the 2023 indictment, citing procedural errors. But prosecutors were trying to correct them and move forward with the case.
They had presented evidence that, since 2014, the brothers had between them forced more than 30 women, including a 17-year-old, to participate in their porn operation, according to court records.
They also accused Tate of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl and trying to bribe her not to talk. She told investigators that he had beaten her with a belt and strangled her until she passed out, according to the documents.
The Tates have denied any wrongdoing, and Andrew has contested the civil lawsuits.
They said the new women named in the Romanian investigation were not considered victims of trafficking. And they argued that being held without a formal accusation violated their rights.
They had their chance at the end of February. An order was issued directing prosecutors to negotiate with them, according to two people familiar with the move who were not authorized to discuss it. The prime minister believed the Trump administration would be pleased with the outcome, a third person said.
On February 25, the Tates officially requested that travel restrictions be lifted.
The next day, in a text message, Tate shared his long-awaited victory with a person close to him.
Andrew Tate
I have very detailed instructions from the Americans about crossing borders, phones, passports etc. I cant say more. This goes into instant effect.
ANDREW TATE: I have very detailed instructions from Americans about crossing borders, telephones, passports etc. I can't say more. This is effective immediately.
Early on February 27, the brothers headed to the airport, as documented in a video titled The Tate Escape (“The Tate Escape”). They smiled at each other as the plane took off toward Florida.
When asked that day whether the Trump administration had contributed to the Tates' release, McBride, their lawyer, told the Times: “You do the math. Los chicos están en el avión”.
The Tate brothers shared this video with their followers on Rumble this year.
Una división en la derecha
Desde el momento en que llegaron a suelo estadounidense, los Tate encontraron oposición.
Los agentes de control fronterizo confiscaron sus dispositivos electrónicos. Ingrassia, quien entonces era enlace de la Casa Blanca con Seguridad Nacional, intentó que les devolvieran los teléfonos, pero no lo consiguió, informó ProPublica. (Ingrassia lo negó).
Esa noche, en Miami, los hermanos celebraron fumando puros con Waller, dijo. Pero la reacción pública fue en aumento, incluso entre algunos conservadores prominentes.
Megyn Kelly y Ben Shapiro denunciaron a los Tate. Some Republican leaders also spoke out.
“I certainly don't think we should use any influence from our government to try to clear it of what appeared to be extremely serious charges in Romania,” Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri told HuffPost, referring to Andrew.
After DeSantis said the brothers were not welcome in Florida, the state's attorney general announced a criminal investigation into them.
This actually is toxic masculinity, people. This is the real version of it.
America does not need more self-proclaimed pimps.
Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air.
“This is toxic masculinity, people. This is the authentic version of it.”
Megyn Kelly
Right-wing commentator
“America doesn't need any more self-proclaimed pimps.”
Ben Shapiro
Right-wing commentator
“Florida is not a place where that kind of pimp is tolerated.” conduct.”
Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida
When a division opened on the right over the Tates, Stone, the Republican activist, deleted an X post in which he said that Grenell had secured his release. Habba said he had “nothing to do” with lifting the Tates' travel ban.
And Trump had already said he knew nothing about it.
In mid-March, the brothers flew back to Romania to appear in court. One of Andrew's then-girlfriends, Brianna Stern, told Beverly Hills police that he had assaulted her before leaving. En redes sociales, compartió varios de sus mensajes de texto.
Andrew Tate
i really love hitting you its very good for me
and you
its relaxing dont you think
?
Brianna Stern
pookie no i cry
ANDREW TATE: de verdad me encanta pegarte es muy bueno para mí / y para ti / es relajante no crees / ? / BRIANNA STERN: osito no yo lloro
La fiscalía se negó a presentar cargos por falta de pruebas. Stern demandó a Andrew, y él presentó una contrademanda, alegando difamación. Él y Tristan también demandaron a una mujer de Florida a quien se cita como víctima en la investigación rumana.
En meses recientes, Andrew ha seguido interviniendo en la política estadounidense, incluyendo un llamado a hacer una “guerra civil” tras el asesinato de Kirk. Pero aunque él y su hermano han entrado y salido de Rumania, Turquía y Emiratos Árabes Unidos, no han vuelto a Estados Unidos.
Muchos de sus aliados han dejado de defenderlo públicamente.
Una excepción es Nick Fuentes, una voz en ascenso conocida por su retórica antisemita y sexista. Él y Tate, ambos críticos con Israel, se han prodigado elogios mutuamente.
Tal vez Tate no sea un dechado de moralidad cristiana, dijo Fuentes en una entrevista con Carlson en octubre. “Pero los hombres lo siguen porque él pone a las mujeres en su lugar”.
Matei Barbulescu colaboró con reportería. Produced byEli Murray.
Illustration photo credits: robert Ghement/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (Tate brothers); Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press (Donald Trump Jr.); Consortium photo by Chip Somodevilla (Barron Trump); Gage Skidmore/ZUMA Press Wire (Candace Owens); Bill Bowdon/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Joseph McBride); Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press (Tucker Carlson); Kenny Holston/The New York Times (Alina Habba); Jim Watson/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images (Richard Grenell).
Megan Twohey is an investigative reporter at the Times. Her work has spurred changes in the law, criminal convictions and cultural transformations.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and trends.