Former kickboxer and social media personality Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape.
The 36-year-old’s home in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, was raided on Thursday (Dec. 29) and arrested along with his brother Tristan, 34, and two Romanian nationals.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show Tate and his brother being taken by Romanian police from their luxury villa. villa.
According to Reuters, prosecutors said the 4 detainees are suspected of creating an “organized criminal organization with the aim of recruiting, harboring and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content intended to be viewed on specialized programs in exchange for a fee. “Newsweek has reached out to Tate Representatives for comment.
The Tate brothers have been under investigation since April. However, this is the first time Tate has made headlines: over the past year he has been at the center of several controversies.
Newsweek took a look at some of the peak events surrounding the former kickboxer and online personality prior to his arrest for trafficking:
On Wednesday, Dec. 28, Tate tweeted to 19-year-old weather activist Greta Thunberg, bragging about the “huge emissions” of her luxury car collection.
He tagged Thunberg in the tweet, asking for her email address so she can “send a full list of my collection of cars and their respective mass emissions. “He attached a photo of him filling his Bugatti supercar with gasoline.
In a tweet that has since garnered more than 3 million likes on the social media site, Thunberg responded: “Yes, please enlighten me. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife. com. “
Using Thunberg herself at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, Tate responded: “How dare you?”
Yes, thanks for enlightening me. Write me at smalldickenergy@getalife. com https://t. co/V8geeVvEvg
More than 10 hours into his relationship with Thunberg, Tate posted a two-minute video on Twitter targeting the teenage climate change activist.
He captioned the clip: “Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg. The world was curious. And I agree that he has a life. “
Dressed in a red silk dress, Tate was seen smoking a cigar and declaring, “I’m a stranger to online controversy, it’s not something I do often. “
In his tirade, he mentioned Thunberg’s gender and alleged that she had been “programmed,” calling her a “womb slave. “
Check through your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg The world was curious. And I accept that he has a life https://t. co/mHmiKHjDGH pic. twitter. com/SMisajQRcf ❤️
Tate also gave him pizzas from a Romanian takeaway delivered to his table, which some say may have led to his arrest. Less than 24 hours after the video was released, Tate arrested by Romanian police and his home searched.
Thunberg still did not respond to Tate’s video after his arrest, she tweeted: “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes. “
Here’s what happens when you don’t recycle pizza cartons
In early December 2022, Tate shared his perspectives on Kanye West, who has recently been in the midst of several controversies.
The rapper, who officially replaced his call to Ye, has been widely criticized for his anti-Semitic comments and praise of Adolf Hitler. The fashion designer has been abandoned by several major brands, Adidas, GAP, J. P. Morgan and others.
West was also suspended from Twitter for violating the platform’s rules opposing “incitement to violence” after tweeting a symbol of a stika combined with the Star of David.
In an interview clip posted through UnitedSatesofClips’ YouTube account, Tate described West as “enjoying firsthand the center of The Matrix. “
He said, “I think that while I disagree with some of the things you’ve said, I think other people who stand up and challenge the uniform idea of the slave, the one-way mind, are intelligent in general. “
Tate added: “I think, overall, he [West] is on a smart mission. Try to prevent others from soaking up the slave spirit, the one-way mind and thinking for themselves. For this reason, I have a lot of respect for him. “
Major social media outlets Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok banned Tate from their platforms following his misogynistic comment.
It was removed from Twitter in 2021 after tweeting that women “take responsibility” for being sexually assaulted. Facebook and Instagram banned him following an online crusade to remove him from the platform.
Instagram and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said Tate violated its rules on “dangerous organizations and individuals. “
Tate’s TikTok account was also deleted after the video-sharing platform ruled it violated policies on “content that attacks, threatens, incites violence, or otherwise dehumanizes an individual or group. “
YouTube suspended its channel, mentioning violations, adding hate speech and incorrect information about COVID-19.
With the arrival of Elon Musk as Twitter’s new CEO in October 2022, Tate’s account was restored.
In 2021, Tate founded Hustler University, a network aimed at all things business.
Tate described it as “a network where you have access to inventory analytics, feature sets, crypto analysis, DeFi, e-commerce, copywriting, freelancing, response, real estate, financial planning, partner marketing, business management, etc.
The program targets its money school students by offering them education, training and new training skills to propel them into a wealthy stratosphere, and achieve millionaire status.
In August 2022, Hustler University 2. 0 officially closed its doors. According to their website, this was due to a “massive platform update. “Tate introduced Hustler University’s newest edition, known as HU3, in August 2022.
Its closure came just after Tate was criticized for derogatory, violent and misogynistic comments online.
Tate had encouraged Hustler University to post videos of him to get as many references as you can imagine and earn a commission. As a result, thousands of kickboxer videos have gone viral online.
An investigation through The Observer found that subscribers were explicitly encouraged to create “arguments” and “war” by posting intentionally questionable clips that would generate more prospects for Hustler University and the Tate. These commands have since been removed.
Tate University Hall has also faced accusations that it is a pyramid scheme and a scam, but this has never been proven.
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