London: Showing off his bulging muscles, cigars and fast cars, Andrew Tate’s social media videos fascinate millions of teenagers.
Giving advice on how to succeed as well as misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, the 36-year-old Briton said women cannot be independent and blames those who are raped or assaulted.
His controversial production has made him one of the most well-known influencers in the world.
The former kickboxing champion has been behind bars in Romania since December as authorities investigate him and his brother for alleged human trafficking and rape.
However, he was freed on Friday after an appeals court ordered his release and house arrest.
Tate has denied any wrongdoing and continues to dispense his wisdom on Twitter, where he has grown from 4.8 million to 5.5 million followers since January.
“We will all disappear one day. The difference between me and most is that when I disappear the world still feels my presence,” he wrote earlier this year.
In 2022, the words “Andrew Tate” were among the most searched words on Google. But many adults only learned of its existence in recent months, despite its influence on young men in the English-speaking world and beyond.
It went viral in December after launching a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Tate was born in the United States in 1986 and has American citizenship, according to his website.
But after his parents separated, he grew up with his mother and brother in Luton, an economically deprived town north of London. He has lived in Romania for several years.
Prior to his rise to social media fame and subsequent arrest, Tate was a professional kickboxer who won world titles.
– Multimillionaire –
He first gained attention by appearing as a contestant on the reality show ‘Big Brother’ in the UK in 2016. But he was quickly ejected after a video emerged showing him performing hit a woman.
After that, he focused on building his online presence.
In August last year, he was banned from social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok for misogynistic posts.
His Twitter account, however, was cleared after Elon Musk bought the company.
Tate founded the so-called Hustler´s University, where he promises to teach fee-paying students “secrets that ONLY the wealthiest people know”.
Tate and his brother Tristan were once “broken as a joke” but are now “self-made multi-millionaires”, he writes on his site.
He runs a paid social media platform called his “war room”, whose “mission” he describes as helping “all men become the best versions of themselves”.
“All men should be strong,” he repeatedly declares.
However, his comments about women proved the most controversial.