Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan arrived in the United States on Thursday after being allowed to leave Romania, where the pair were arrested three years ago and face charges including rape and human trafficking.
Here’s what to know about the aggressively misogynistic influencer and the online “manosphere” community where he is so revered:
Divisive content creator
Emory Andrew Tate III is a 38-year-old US-born professional fighter-turned-media personality who has racked up billions of views online with his rants about male dominance, female submission and wealth. He first gained notoriety in 2016 when he was removed from British reality TV show “Big Brother” after video emerged that appeared to show him attacking a woman with a belt.
In the years since, he has become a divisive online content creator who was at one point suspended from all major social media platforms.
In 2017, Tate was banned from what was then Twitter, now known as X, for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted. In August 2022, he was banned by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for violating their policies, Britain’s PA Media news agency reported. His removal followed a campaignby British advocacy group Hope not Hate, which fights against racism and extremism.
Following tech billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022, Tate was reinstated on the platform. As of February 2025, he has 10.7 million followers on X.
Why is his influence seen as so harmful?
Tate has been accused of pedaling hateful views online and making his controversial lifestyle appealing to young and vulnerable audiences.
In one example of his many misogynistic online rants, Tate wrote in a post on X on February 19: “Still true. Hate me all you want. Women are all sex workers.”
Georgie Laming, campaigns and communication director at Hope not Hate, which has been monitoring Tate for years, previously told CNN the confidence he projects and the lifestyle he promotes are central to his harmful influence.
“Tate’s misogynist, homophobic and racist content is seen online by millions of young people. His confidence, his money and his lifestyle are all carefully crafted to make his brand of hateful content inspiring and aspirational,” Laming said.
What is the ‘manosphere?’
Critics say Tate’s commentary and content is harmful in and of itself. However, it does not exist in a vacuum.
As Laming explained, his ideas can be tied to far-right ideology and the worldview of the so-called “manosphere” – a loose collection of forums, blogs, vlogs and organizations concerned with men’s issues and certain interpretations of masculinity oriented around opposition to feminism.
“Parts of the ‘manosphere’ are highly misogynistic and have, in recent years, grown increasingly extreme and close to the far right, utilizing racist conspiracy theories to explain perceived societal issues,” Laming said.
“Tate is able to bring followers in with his misogynistic content and then introduce them to his far-right friends and his dangerous conspiracy theories.”
Ongoing legal battles
After landing in Florida, Tate said he and his brother have been “largely misunderstood.” But the Tates face serious charges in both Romania and the United Kingdom, and their temporary release has raised fears among their alleged victims that the brothers will not face justice.
Andrew and younger brother Tristan Tate, 36, were initially arrested in Bucharest in December 2022.
Both are facing charges of rape, human trafficking, and forming an organized crime group in Romania, their spokesperson Mateea Petrescu confirmed to CNN. They have denied all wrongdoing.
A first criminal case against Tate and his brother failed in December 2024 when a Bucharest court decided to suspend the trial, citing flaws in the indictment.
A Romanian court lifted a house arrest order against Tate in January, replacing it with conditions such as regular police check-ins. In October, a court ruled he should get back luxury cars worth about €4 million ($4.43 million) that had been seized by prosecutors pending their probe.
The pair had previously been banned from leaving Romania while the investigations were ongoing. After those restrictions were lifted and the brothers left the country, however, Matthew Jury – a lawyer representing alleged victims of Andrew Tate in the United Kingdom – told CNN that, “any suggestion that the Tates will now face justice in Romania is fanciful.”
The lawyer accused the US government of “lobbying” for Tate’s release. Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that US officials had pressed Romanian officials to lift restrictions on Tate. Romania’s foreign minister said he had not come under pressure from US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to lift restrictions.
When asked about the Tates at a press availability in the Oval Office alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Thursday, Trump said he knows “nothing.” Starmer said that it is “important that justice is done” in relation to the allegations against the brothers.
But it’s not just Romania where the Tate brothers face lengthy legal battles. The pair are also being investigated by UK authorities for allegations of rape and human trafficking.
Four women in the UK have also accused Andrew Tate of rape and coercive control, and have brought a civil case against him. They released a joint statement Thursday saying the news that he had left Romania for the US had left them “re-traumatized.”
“We are in disbelief and feel re-traumatized by the news that the Romanian authorities have given into pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel… to the US,” they said in the statement shared with CNN.
Although the Tates have become a cause célèbre on the online American right, some US officials voiced their concern about the brothers’ arrival in the country. After the pair landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said his state is “not a place where you are welcome with that type of conduct.
