Online provocateur Andrew Tate doesn’t just engage in hateful, violent attacks against women online; he also does so in real life, authorities allege.
The 36-year-old social media influencer — once banned from Twitter for saying women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted — was arrested in Romania Thursday on human trafficking and rape charges.
A divisive chauvinist who has previously slammed women as “intrinsically lazy,” Tate appeared to mock the accusations he faces after being detained, along with his brother Tristan, for 24 hours outside Bucharest.
“The Matrix sent their agents,” the British-American conspiracist tweeted to his 3.9 million followers early Friday.
“Victims were recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the lover boy method),” Romanian authorities said in a statement Thursday.
The six victims were taken to homes in Ilfov, north of Bucharest, where they were put under “constant surveillance,” authorities said.
The women were then “sexually exploited” and forced to perform pornographic acts intended to be posted on social media platforms, according to Romanian officials.
The four suspects, including the Tate brothers, were also charged with rape after an injured woman reported being sexually assaulted on two occasions in March.
Before he was a social media influencer dubbed the “King of Toxic Masculinity,” Emory Andrew Tate III was a world light-heavyweight kickboxing champ once known as “King Cobra.” He dominated professional kickboxing starting in 2005, compiling a 76-9 record and two world titles over the next nine years. After a brief stint in mixed martial arts, the 6-foot-3 southpaw now works as a commentator for Real Xtreme Fighting, the largest MMA promotion in Romania, according to his website CobraTate.com.
