Andrew Tate news – latest: Influencer loses appeal over police detention for 30 more days

Is it him? That shiny bald head, manicured beard, and gradient “I’m a celebrity” sunglasses are unmistakeable. A four-minute clip of Andrew Tate, a controversial figure who is known for making vulgar and inflammatory statements about women, has infiltrated the intimate boundaries of my smartphone through a forwarded WhatsApp video. Prior to this, I’ve actively avoided researching or discussing Tate, despite his notoriety on social media – I’d hate to give any more airtime to the self-proclaimed misogynist who is already one of the most frequently googled people on the internet.

Andrew Tate is a “little bit paranoid” but only ever asked to have women removed from his home in Romania - not to stop them leaving, his head of security has said.

Bogdan Stancu, who worked for Mr Tate and his brother for several years, claims that he was not once asked to prevent women from leaving the property in Bucharest.

“I never doubt Andrew,” he told the BBC.

News of Andrew Tate’s arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tate’s views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what I’ve seen.

There is no denying the immense reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man over the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as, “women bear some responsibility for rape”; has compared women to dogs and proudly confessed in one video with a fellow YouTuber to being an “absolute misogynist”, stating that he was in fact a “realist” and “when you’re a realist, you’re sexist”. The amplification of these views should terrify everyone.

Social media posts by Andrew Tate could serve as a “gateway drug” to children who go on to view more damaging content, teachers have warned.

At one school the head of performing arts Matt Adams decided to hold “Andrew Tate assemblies” due to fears over what pupils interested in the influencer are exposed to online.

Mr Adams teaches at a west London school, and told The Independent boys he had spoken to would either support Tate outright, make excuses for him or claim he had been misquoted.

Andrew Tate, the controversial former kickboxing world champion turned social media influencer, has lost his court appeal against his detention in Romania over rape and human trafficking charges.

Eugen Vidineac, a lawyer representing the 36-year-old and his brother Tristan, who has also been detained, has insisted that “there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victim’s statement” to back up the allegations.

Mr Tate has amassed millions of followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok over the past decade. But he has also seen his accounts banned over inflammatory statements he has made, often appearing to advocate violence against women, which the platforms ruled violated their policies.

In an interview with BBC, Andrew Tate’s head of security Bogdan Stancu dismissed women who are accusing the controversial influencer and said some “girls misunderstood the reality”.

“Some of the girls misunderstood the reality and believed [they would] be his next wife,” Mr Stancu said. “When they realised the reality, it’s easy to transform from a friend into an enemy, and make a statement to the police.”

He said more than 100 women passed through the compound in Bucharest in last two years and some were under 25. Their expenses were paid for by Mr Tate.

He called the women accusing his boss “young and stupid” and said, “I never doubt Andrew”.

When influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania during a police raid, he was detained alongside three other people – one of them his brother, Tristan Tate.

The 34-year-old is two years younger than his older brother Andrew. He has followed in the footsteps of his sibling in more ways than one.

Tristan started off as a kickboxer in his hometown of Luton where he grew up with Andrew as the middle child of three siblings. He learned kickboxing at Storm Gym in Luton under coach Amir Subasic and later became a four-time ISKA kickboxing champion.

He won the ISKA Kick Boxing title in 2009 and his career record stands at 43-9. In 2011, the 34-year-old appeared on Channel 4’s Shipwrecked: The Island Season 4.

Tristan boasts 2.3 million Instagram followers where his posts boast different aspects of his luxury lifestyle including sports cars, private jets and parties.

After Andrew Tate lost his appeal last week challenging the 30-day arrest warrant under which he is currently detained, a cryptic post on his Twitter account read: “When Allah said ‘I test only those I love.’ I took the pain like it was an honour – Abu Hurayrah.”

It was one of several ambiguous posts that have appeared on the account since his arrest.

For those joining us on the blog who are still unaware of who exactly Andrew Tate is, my colleagues on The Independent’s lifestyle desk have put together this explainer:

While no charges have yet been brought against Andrew Tate, a spokesperson for Romania’s National Anti-Trafficking Agency claims the case is already sending a strong message to traffickers and victims.

“The fact that the justice system has decided to keep the brothers in custody, even during the preliminary phase of the [case], sends a very important message,” Mihaela Dragus told the BBC.