A Romanian court on Friday ordered the detention of controversial former kickboxer and influencer Andrew Tate for 30 days in a pimp case, a spokeswoman for the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office told AFP on Friday.
Controversial British influencer Andrew Tate, who attracted attention on Twitter for a very lively and much-commented exchange with environmentalist Greta Thunberg, was arrested in Romania on Friday for pimping. Andrew Tate, his brother and two Romanian nationals, who were taken into custody Thursday night, are suspected of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal organization. After a hearing lasting several hours, the Bucharest court ordered their detention for 30 days, a spokeswoman for the anti-mafia prosecutor DIICOT, Ramona Bolla, told AFP. Andrew Tate had a heated exchange with Greta Thunberg on social media this week, in which he congratulated himself for emitting a lot of greenhouse gases with his collection of big cars.
Upon hearing of the news of her arrest, the Swedish activist ironically tweeted on Friday morning: “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza wrappers.” The message, which had 2.4 million “likes” at the time, helped fuel speculation that that Tate had been found by Romanian authorities thanks to the pizza wrapper visible in a video response he sent to him on Wednesday. However, Romanian prosecutors denied this. “That has nothing to do with it,” Ms. Bolla replied. “To determine whether a person is in the country or not, we use a whole range of means,” she added, specifying that “arrest warrants and searches” are already in place.
For her part, a spokeswoman for Greta Thunberg confirmed to AFP that her tweet was “a joke” and that “the Romanian authorities had not contacted her”.
Recent return to Twitter
The public prosecutor’s office has been investigating since the beginning of 2021 and had already searched a mansion owned by Andrew Tate last April. So far, six potential victims have been identified. Deceived by the two men, who faked feelings for them and then confiscated them, they were allegedly forced through violence into prostitution and the production of pornographic films.
The prosecutor’s office published images of the searches, where we can see firearms, wads of money and sports cars seized in different places in Romania. According to the Romanian press, two women, including an American citizen, were freed by the police from the Tate brothers’ property in the spring. Both men moved to Romania a few years ago. Andrew Tate, who also holds American citizenship, appeared on the TV show Big Brother in 2016. He was eliminated from the competition after video showed him hitting a woman. He then turned to social networks, where he spread masculinist theses. His accounts had all been suspended for misogynist comments. In particular, he believed that women victims of sexual abuse should be held accountable.
However, in the course of the Twitter takeover by Elon Musk, his Dubai-based account on the social network was reactivated. He is followed by 3.6 million people. On his website he presents himself with a shaven head, a well-groomed beard and aviator glasses. He smokes big cigars and bulging muscles, claims to be a multimillionaire, and gives his advice to men about helping them get rich.
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KO for Andrew Tate: The influencer attacked by Greta Thunberg is arrested by the police because of a pizza box