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Andrew Tate when he was arrested in Bucharest
Photo: Octav Ganea / INQUAM PHOTOS / REUTERS
His bald head is covered by a black hood, he doesn't look at the camera, he's handcuffed and being led away by two police officers: The photo that shows the controversial influencer Andrew Tate, 36, when he was arrested in Romania is probably one of the few be pictures of him that he did not stage himself.
Since April, the police have been investigating him for human trafficking and rape.
Shortly before the year 2022 came to an end, she grabbed it.
The international attention for the arrest is tremendous.
This is not only due to Tate's questionable Internet fame and the seriousness of the allegations.
But above all on a Twitter exchange of blows with Greta Thunberg, which began in the past few days and, in retrospect, looks like the overture to the spectacular arrest - with the last punchline for the time being with the climate activist.
The narrative on social media goes, roughly abridged, as follows: The misogynist Tate messed with the wrong person, lost the war of words and also gave the police the crucial clue to his whereabouts through a pizza box in his video.
Thunberg himself took up the narrative in another tweet.
hit, sunk?
The Romanian investigators referred the connection to the realm of fables.
These are "amusing speculations," said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office of the dpa news agency.
It is not true that the pizza box played a role in the arrest.
The Twitter episode is nonetheless typical of the world of Andrew Tate, in which it often remains unclear what is authentic and what is just for show.
The 36-year-old, former kickboxer, makes his living from the staging of himself on the internet and has long provoked misogynistic statements.
He describes himself as someone who grew up »with nothing« and has now made it to a multi-millionaire.
In countless videos he presents himself with expensive sports cars, weapons, cigars - and pithy sayings.
Success can be learned, claims Tate on a portal that he sees as an “online university”.
For just under $50 a month, those who are interested can get coaching here to get rich.
More than 100,000 people are said to be ready to do so so far.
As an influencer, Tate operates several TikTok accounts or has them operated, which is not entirely clear.
A misogynist attitude is often celebrated: he rants that women belong in the house, cannot drive a car and are their husband's property.
According to the Guardian, he said during the #Metoo debate that rape victims "have some responsibility" for the attacks against them.
He later repeated this statement several times and was temporarily blocked from Twitter for this reason, among other things.
Tate also says he likes to date 18 or 19-year-olds because he wants to put his "stamp" on them.
In a video, Tate explains how he would slap a woman in the face and grab her by the neck if she accused him of cheating on her.
Misogyny as a business model?
As the Guardian reports, citing the Observer, which belongs to its own media group, Tate is specifically asking followers to share his videos extensively, especially those posts with particularly provocative content.
The goal: to get as many clicks and as much attention as possible.
According to the research, a guide to Tate's "online courses" tells "students" that the key to success is to generate as much comment and controversy as possible.
»What you ideally want is a mix of 60 to 70 percent fans and 40 to 30 percent haters.
You want arguments, you want war.” So is provocation with misogynist statements part of Tate's business model?
The 36-year-old seems to have struck a chord as a living alternative to the so-called »cancel culture« debates.
According to the Guardian report, his posts on TikTok have already been viewed more than ten billion times.
Women's rights activists therefore consider the rapid rise of men to be dangerous.
Hannah Ruschen from the British child protection organization NSPCC warns that when young people watch such videos, it can influence their experiences and attitudes and lead to further harm for girls and women.
Even after he was banned from certain social networks, his harmful, toxic rhetoric lives on among his followers, warned social media editor at The Observer, Sophia Popkin, in the fall.
Misogyny has always been a deeply rooted problem in our society, but now there are more men who truly believe that women are theirs, their property and deserve to be treated accordingly.
The concern: misogyny doesn't end online, where it's bad enough.
And if the allegations against Andrew Tate in Romania are confirmed, then he himself should be the most chilling example of this danger.
A special unit for organized crime in Romania has been investigating him, his brother and two suspected accomplices since April.
Since the beginning of 2021 they are said to have trafficked in human beings in Romania and also in the USA and Great Britain and forced women into prostitution.
According to the public prosecutor, the six victims identified so far were lured into the trap using the so-called loverboy method.
After promising love and marriage, the men allegedly held the women in different apartments around Bucharest, using violence and intimidation.
There they were forced to have sex and appear in pornographic videos, which were then distributed over the Internet.
One of the victims was also raped twice by one of those arrested.
Andrew Tate tweeted on Friday from Bucharest police custody: "The Matrix has sent their agents." This was probably intended to imply being the victim of a conspiracy - a narrative he had prepared in videos before his arrest.
The British tabloid Daily Mirror quoted a spokesman for Tate as saying that the two brothers had "the greatest respect for the Romanian authorities and will help where they can".
Rise after violence video at Big Brother
Tate's questionable rise as an internet celebrity began with a 2016 sacking from the show Big Brother, according to a BBC report.
Even then, there were allegations of violence.
A video showed Tate hitting a woman with a belt.
A second video, according to the Guardian, shows Tate asking a woman to count the injuries he inflicted on her.
Both then asserted that there had been no abuse.
Tate is said to have moved to Romania from the UK about five years ago.
At the time, the British police were investigating allegations of abuse against him, reports the Guardian.
In a video at the time, the influencer explained that it was easier for him to avoid rape allegations: “I'm not a rapist, but I like the idea of being able to just do what I want.
I like being free.«
This freedom could now be gone for a long time.
A magistrate is due to decide on Friday whether the suspects remain behind bars.
fok/with material from dpa