In a video that appeared on the Internet, Andrew Tate, a one-time kickboxing champion turned self-proclaimed men’s aid guru, has argued that women are their husbands’ assets and that they should “have children, sit at home, stay calm and Must make coffee.”
He claims he needs authority over women whom, he says, “you can’t be responsible for if you don’t listen to a dog.” He has said he would attack a woman who accused him of fraud and described himself as “absolutely an anti-woman”.
His fans have called him the king of toxic masculinity.
Tate’s content has spread rapidly on social media this summer, garnering millions of views and raising concerns about its impact on boys and youth. Given his popularity in recent months, he has bragged about his reach.
In a statement to The Washington Post, a TikTok representative said that Tate’s account was removed for violating company policies that “assault, threaten to attack an individual or a group” based on characteristics, including sex. material that incites violence or otherwise dehumanizes”. Meta said it has removed Tate’s official accounts on Facebook and Instagram, pointing to policies against dangerous organizations and individuals.
Tate, a 35-year-old American-born British native of Romania who runs an online “education and coaching” program called Hustler University, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Other social media influencers – along with several organizations that support survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence – had called on them to be booted from the social media platform. Hope Not Hate, a UK-based group that launched a petition for Tate’s removal, called him dangerous.
“Tate’s brand of vitriol misogyny can have a profound effect on young male audiences,” said Hope Not Hate. “His material is widely celebrated by his fans for bringing back ‘traditional masculinity.’ However, we also know that misogyny can be a gateway to other extreme and discriminatory views.”
Tate’s home in Romania was raided in April as part of a human-trafficking investigation, the group reported in the Daily Beast. No arrests have been made and Tate has denied wrongdoing.
Tate first gained notoriety in 2016, when he was dropped from the reality TV show “Big Brother”, the BBC reported, after a video surfaced that showed him hitting a woman. The pair later claimed that their actions were consensual. In 2017, she created an online uproar after she posted on Twitter that women should take personal responsibility and protect themselves from sexual harassment.
In a thread posted in response to the sexual assault claims against Harvey Weinstein, she wrote, “If you put yourself in the position of rape, you have to [bear] some responsibility. I’m not saying it’s okay.” You have been raped.” As reported by NBC News, Twitter permanently suspended his account.
NBC News reported that Tet initially had a following in far-right circles on social media. He dined in 2019 with Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson and “Pizzagate” conspiracy-theory propagandist Jack Posobiec; Mike Cernovich, another proprietor of conspiracy theories, calls him a friend. He has given several presentations on Infowars.
But Tate has gone mainstream in recent months, as her videos and podcast interviews flooded social media and she climbed up in Google searches. As of August, he had over 4 million Instagram followers; Videos tagged with his name reportedly garnered 12.7 billion views.
Their sudden ubiquity did not happen systematically, the Guardian reported. Paid members of Hustler University were directed to bombard social media platforms with their videos, selecting the most controversial to promote engagement among experts that news outlets described as manipulation of algorithms. Is. One of the videos that gained traction was one in which he advised his followers to “slap, slap, grab, strangle” women in the bedroom and another in which he said he would date 18- and 19-year-olds. do because it is easy to leave an ” impression” on them.
Several videos that garnered viewers on TikTok appear to have been posted by Tate’s followers. A TikTok spokesperson told The Post, “Our investigation into this content is ongoing, and we continue to remove infringing accounts and videos that promote malpractices and other hateful behavior.”
Responding to criticism over his comments, Tate said in an interview with NBC News that he plays an “online character” and trains men to “totally avoid toxic people.”
“It has nothing to do with hatred for women,” he told the outlet.