9 Reasons Parents Should Be Concerned By Andrew Tate & His Rise To Internet Fame
He and his fans pose a real threat.
Instagram/YouTube From TikTok soundbites to viral YouTube clips, Andrew Tate is the internet's latest obsession but virality, is not some fickle, harmless trend.
The former kickboxer has gone from spreading his fringe views in quieter corners of the internet to building a cult-like following of millions of fans across various platforms.
Thanks to his online business coaching program, Hustler's University, Tate has convinced his fans to quite literally buy into his message.
Under the guise of giving money-making advice, the program — which has been dubbed a pyriamid scheme by some critics — encourages it's students to cut up clips of Tate and post them online in order to drive traffic back to the program.
Consequently, Tate now everywhere — particularly on platforms with a young, impressionable audience who are being exposed to his harmful rhetoric every time they scroll through their screens.
Namely, Tate shared many misogynistic and degrading views on women. With the rhetoric he’s spreading, parents have good reason to be concerned about his recent emergence.
Here are 9 Reasons Parents Should Be Concerned By Andrew Tate
1. He believes women “put themselves in positions to be raped.”
On the heels of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in 2017 and the #MeToo movement, Tate posted a series of tweets claiming that women should “bear some responsibility” if they are raped. He also defended forms of harassment such as catcalling as “normal male behavior.”
Twitter later suspended his account, but the Metro documented his posts beforehand.
“But women have been exchanging sex for opportunity for a very long time,” Tate said. “Some did this. Weren’t abused."
“Of course now they will say they were abused. However at the time it was a simple exchange they partook in voluntarily. Not all. But some.
“Next point, if you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must bare some responsibility. I’m not saying it’s OK you got raped. No woman should be abused regardless. However with sexual assault they want to put zero blame on the victim whatsoever.”
2. He claimed he moved to Romania because rape charges are less common.
In a since-deleted YouTube video, Tate said men are less likely to face rape charges in Eastern European countries. He added that the difference in charges is “probably 40% of the reason” why he moved to Romania.
“I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.”
3. He was investigated for human trafficking.
Authorities raided Tate’s house in Romania in April during a human trafficking investigation, which was later expanded to also include rape. A Romanian newspaper reported that the raid occurred due to reports of an American woman being held in the house against her will.
Romanian news outlet Gandul shared a video of the raid, with police officers bearing rifles in front of the house.
On an episode of his podcast, Tate and his brother Tristan seemingly mocked the incident.
“A girl had been at a party at my house, and her boyfriend saw her Instagram stories,” Andrew Tate said. “The girl said to her boyfriend that she didn’t want to come to the party and we wouldn’t let her leave, which is some bulls— excuse. So her boyfriend is obviously one of these believe all females.
“She was a h-e, she wasn’t even hot, she was ugly. He then calls the f—ing police and says my girlfriend is being held against her will by the Tate brothers. The police calls the American embassy, and the next day the police come to our house.”
No charges have been brought in the investigation so far.
4. He was caught beating a woman on video
Andrew Tate competed on a season of Big Brother UK in 2016. He was kicked off the show in the middle of the season after a video emerged of him repeatedly hitting a woman with a belt.
He defended his actions by claiming that the video just showed him “playing with his ex” he shared photos of the woman with the belt in hand claiming that they’re still friends.
He claimed that the belt was made of felt and “made noise but doesn’t hurt.” Tate also claimed that she was actually laughing, and they edited the sound out to make him look worse.
The network responded to Tate’s claims with a swift rejection in a statement to Daily Mail.
“Channel 5 and Big Brother have become aware that Andrew Tate has posted a statement on Facebook about the circumstances of his departure from the Big Brother House,” a Big Brother spokesperson said. “What Andrew says in that statement is completely false.
“Andrew was not removed because of his actions inside the House. Nor was he removed for tweets allegedly posted by him prior to his entering the House. Andrew was removed because of information which came to light today.”
5. He and his brother allegedly used web cam models to scam people.
Andrew and Tristan Tate run a webcam business that they admit is a “total scam” to make millions off of the models’ fake stories.
Despite their admittance to the grift, they say the authorities can’t stop them from doing it. Tristan Tate boasted to the Sunday Mirror that he doesn’t feel bad about robbing men of their money because “no one cares” and “it’s their problem not mine.”
6. He won’t let his partners go out without him.
Tate appeared on a livestream with Twitch streamer xQc, real name Félix Lengyel, in July. During the livestream, he said that he would never let a woman he was in a relationship go to a club without him. Lengyel strongly disagreed with Tate’s viewpoint during the stream.
"One of the best things about being a man is being territorial and being able to say 'that is mine,'" Tate said. He attempts to justfy the answer by comparing women to cars and explaining that you would never leave your car in a high-crime area.
7. He minimizes people’s mental health issues.
Tate took to, what else, Twitter in 2017 to make his opinions on mental health known. The former fighter said that “depression isn’t real.” He claimed that depression “is not a clinical disease,” but instead “it is a circumstance which they must change.”
"Sure. Natural to sometimes FEEL depressed,” Tate said. “It doesn't make it a DISEASE. I feel hungry sometimes, then I change it."
8. He believes in polygamy for men, but not for women.
On an episode of the BFFs podcast, Tate said it was OK for men to have multiple partners. However, he added that women should not have multiple partners because it is “against the will of God.”
“Read the Bible, every single man had multiple wives, not a single woman had multiple husbands,” Tate said. It’s against the will of God — it’s disgusting.”
9. He compares women to dogs and children.
On the same podcast, Tate compared women to children, dogs, and objects. His reason? None of them act obedient towards him.
“You can’t be responsible for something that doesn’t listen to you. You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you, or a child if it doesn’t obey you, or a woman that doesn’t obey you.”
Jonathan Alfano is a writer who focuses on news and entertainment topics. Follow him on Twitter to keep up with his content.