Rising star of YouTube Andrew Tate, who gained notoriety this year for some misogynist statements and provocative videos was led away from his Romanian luxury villa after police raided the property on Thursday. Tate’s younger brother Tristan, also a YouTube influencer, has been detained along with two other suspects .
All four were held for 24 hours in Bucharest. They have been under investigation by the Romanian authorities since April, 2022.
UPDATE: Romanian court approved the petition of law enforcement and ordered Andrew Tate to remain in custody for at least 30 more days.
Here’s the full police video footage of the raid and the arrest:
The former kickboxer became famous in 2016 when he was removed from the British TV show “Big Brother” over a video which appeared to show him attacking a woman.
After this episode, the athlete gained notoriety online and had also been banned from Twitter for saying women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted.
Tate’s Twitter account was recently reinstated as a part of the “amnesty” to all suspended accounts conceded by Elon Musk. He has gained over 3 million followers since.
Tate was recently part of another controversy after being mocked by climate activist Greta Thunberg over his tweet bragging about carbon emissions with his supercar collection.
Tate mentioned Greta saying: “… I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”:
Thunberg’s response on the other hand, was viewed over 4 million times, and the whole spat reach is between the top 10 in the platform’s history:
Regarding Tate’s detention, Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) released a statement but did not mention the Tate brothers by name. The report said their officers had identified six people who were “sexually exploited” by an “organized criminal group.” The statement said the victims were recruited by two British citizens and two Romanian citizens, who performed a sexual exploitation tactic called “the lover boy.”
The victims were allegedly forced to perform in pornographic content under threat of violence, according to the authorities.
Here’s a quote of the statement from a spokesperson for the DIICOT to the BBC:
“The four suspects… appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost,”
The BBC also reported that “prosecutors had applied to hold the influencer at a detention center for an additional 30 days.” A judge is expected to rule on the application this Friday afternoon.
Tate and the other three suspects were detained for only 24 hours. After being released, the influencer posted a cryptic tweet saying “The matrix sent their agents”.
Online rumors suggested that police had been tipped off to Tate’s presence in the country when he posted a video taking aim at environmental activist Greta Thunberg. The video he posted showed him receiving a pizza box from a local restaurant, which some users suggested had inadvertently led officers to his door.
However, this is only an online theory with no official confirmation by any Romanian authority.
After the arrest and the rumors spreading about the pizza box lead, Thunberg tweeted: “this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”
The Tate brothers and the other two suspects now wait for a potential new detention as requested by the authorities in charge of the investigation. This story is developing.
Independent Writer. Marketing and communications strategist for politicians, artists, public figures & corporate brands for more than 10 years. Contact: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)
Escritor independiente. Consultor en marketing y comunicaciones de políticos, artistas, figuras públicas y marcas por más de 10 años. Contacto: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)