Andrew Tate, an online influencer known for his displays of wealth and his misogynistic views, is facing criminal accusations over sexual misconduct in two separate cases.
Mr. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, have since 2022 been battling charges from Romanian prosecutors that include human trafficking.
They were detained this week on a separate arrest warrant issued by the British authorities, a spokesman for the brothers said, this one accusing them of acts of sexual aggression.
Here’s what to know about the situation.
Who is Andrew Tate?
Mr. Tate, who is both British and American, is a former kickboxer who has gained a large online following by marketing a brand of antagonistic masculinity tied to lavish displays of wealth. That brand has included sexist views that have demeaned women and argued that men are victims of feminism.
Online and in interviews, Mr. Tate has said that women hold some responsibility if they are raped and that they “belong” to men in marriage, while men should be providers and protect them.
Mr. Tate sells access to an online “academy” and a “War Room,” where his fans discuss get-rich-quick schemes. Educators in Britain have warned that his messaging is reaching young boys who are wrestling with their own ideas of masculinity.
Concerns over his influence led several social media sites to ban Mr. Tate in 2022, but he has an active presence on X, where he shares pictures of his luxury cars and rails against “The Matrix” — his conspiratorial term for a network of corporate elites, mainstream politicians and feminists that he claims are victimizing men.
What is he accused of in Romania?
Prosecutors in Romania filed an indictment against Mr. Tate and his brother last June, accusing them and two Romanian women of forming an organized criminal group in 2021 and trafficking women across Romania, Britain and the United States.
Some details of the charges have been kept confidential, but an official in the prosecutor’s office last June confirmed that Andrew Tate is also facing a rape charge.
According to court documents, investigators identified seven women who said that the brothers misled them into believing they wanted a relationship with them. Instead, they were housed in a compound near Bucharest, Romania’s capital, and forced to appear in pornographic videos that were shared online.
The brothers have denied the accusations and said that their wealth had made them targets. “I’m sure at the end we’ll be absolutely exonerated,” Andrew Tate said to reporters after a court ordered their release from house arrest last August.
Since then, they have been ordered to stay in Romania as they await a judge to inspect the indictment before ordering a trial.
The new arrest concerns a U.K. accusation.
On Monday night, Mr. Tate and his brother were taken into custody once again in Romania on a new European arrest warrant issued by the British authorities, a spokesman for Mr. Tate said.
The charges related to the arrest were made between 2012 and 2015 and include allegations of sexual aggression, the spokesman said. He added that the charges had been dismissed by the Crown Prosecution Service years later.
The spokesman said the brothers “unequivocally deny all allegations and decry what they perceive as an exploitative use of the legal system.”
It was unclear which British force issued the warrant and why it had been issued.
