Who is Andrew Tate? Everyone's least favorite known misogynist, social media pariah

Andrew Tate, recently, has become one of the most googled people on the internet due to his controversial point of view on women and misogynistic advice to young men. A majority of the posts regarding Tate have been uploaded by third parties, sourcing from podcasts he appears on rather than coming from Tate himself.

The public either loves or hates Tate, but social media platforms have recently been de-platforming him in disagreement with the ideologies he promotes. It seems as though people are split on whether this is censoring free speech or yielding hateful narratives toward women.

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Luton, England, Tate made a name for himself in the early 2000s for kickboxing. In 2016, Tate made an appearance on the reality show "Big Brother" but was quickly kicked off for his misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric along with the release of a self-made video of him beating a woman with a belt.

Before reaching his peak popularity, Tate made a significant amount of money with a business revolving around webcam models. Tate and his brother would take a portion of the women's webcam earnings for themselves, which pushed Tate to millionaire status, having nearly 75 girls working for him.

Once he became successful in the adult entertainment industry, Tate began "Hustler's University” which covered topics teaching men how to make money, as well as how to achieve getting as many women as possible.

Fast forward to 2022: Tate’s popularity began to rise as he appeared on various podcasts and live streams where he would share personal anecdotes and disgusting opinions on how women act and should be treated. With no certifications in gender studies or credentials that would back up his opinion — an opinion that many young people took as fact — Tate began to take over the internet with countless videos of his opinions.

On Twitter, which he has most recently been banned from, Tate stated, “If you put yourself in a position to be raped, you must (bare) some responsibility ... with sexual assault they want to put zero blame on the victim whatsoever.”

Along with this hideous tweet, Tate has also attempted to convince many that women should not be allowed to drive based on his personal experiences of bad drivers who were women. His claims were quickly debunked by many, sharing statistics that men are significantly more likely to get into car crashes than women, causing insurance for men to be more expensive.

Tate’s most common comment is that whenever men are in relationships they “own” their girlfriend, so in a scenario where a woman would want to create an Only Fans, Tate believes that the girlfriend would automatically owe the boyfriend some of her profits. But when questioned if a man were to do the same thing, Tate hypocritically denied any responsibility for the man to owe any profits. 

So-called “owning” women is a theme Tate particularly likes to stick to. On the BFFs Podcast, Tate said, “You can’t be responsible for something that doesn’t listen to you. You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you, or a child if it doesn’t obey you, or a woman that doesn’t obey you.”

Women are not something to train or to be obedient, but Tate's comments have been receiving a surprising amount of praise, particularly from young men who are extremely impressionable. His comments as an individual can be easily brushed off, but when so many men are mirroring his behavior, it has started to become a problem.

Despite Instagram and Twitter’s attempt to drown out Tate’s voice, his following has become too powerful. Tate's videos are constantly being re-uploaded across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and many more platforms. 

Many of Tate’s loyal fans have petitioned against his removal from such social media sites, claiming that they are taking his right to free speech. Regardless of how much his followers love Tate, social media apps are private companies that are not affiliated with the government in any way. They have no obligation to the U.S.’ protection of free speech as they can decide what can and cannot be on their app.

Even if you can disregard the number of insensitive comments Tate has made, he has also been under investigation for rape allegations. He's also rumored to have been involved in the soliciting of victims of sex trafficking.

Tate even admitted that his reasoning for moving all the way to Romania was that it was easier to avoid rape charges. “I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.”