Tate appears in Romanian court to face rape and human trafficking charges
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Andrew Tate, a social media personality known for expressing misogynistic views online, appeared Wednesday in a court in Romania. Prosecutors have charged him with rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal gang to exploit women.
The former professional kickboxer and his brother, Tristan, who also was charged, arrived at the court in Bucharest, Romania's capital, flanked by six bodyguards. Tate, 36, has denied wrongdoing and said in a brief statement that he was being “unfairly attacked.”
Reporters outside asked him, “How much money have you made from trafficking women?”
Tate, whose social media posts included photos of luxury cars and displays of wealth, snapped: “Zero.” The successful social media personality acquired over six million Twitter followers, many of them young men and teenage boys.
Tate previously was banned from TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook for hate speech and his misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted. He returned to Twitter last year after the platform's new CEO, Elon Musk, reinstated Tate's account.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, alleged that seven female victims were misled, recruited with false declarations of love, and transported to Romania’s Ilfov county. There, the gang—the Tate brothers and two Romanian woman also charged in the case—sexually exploited, forced to take part in pornography, and subjected them to physical violence. The women were allegedly controlled by “intimidation, constant surveillance” and claims they were in debt, prosecutors said. One defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022, according to the agency.
Several women in Britain also are pursuing civil claims to obtain damages from Tate, alleging they were victims of sexual violence. In a recent interview with the BBC, Tate denied spreading a culture of misogyny and accusations that he manipulated women for financial gain.