Andrew Tate is heading to court in Romania.
Tate, an online influencer and self-proclaimed “misogynist,” will stand trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, after a court in Romania ruled the trial can go ahead Friday.
Tate, 37, was arrested alongside his brother, Tristan, 35, in December 2022. Both have denied the charges. Two female Romanian associates were also named alongside the brothers in an indictment published in June 2023, where seven alleged victims were identified.
The Bucharest Tribunal ruled that prosecutors’ case file against Tate and his brother met the legal criteria, but did not set a date for the trial to begin. Tate’s spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said the ruling will be appealed.
Before the court’s decision Friday, the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and case file.
Tate has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence to use against him and believes there is a conspiracy to silence him.
The brothers, who are both British-U.S. dual citizens, are also wanted in the U.K. over sexual offences allegedly committed there.
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In March, a Romanian court approved the extradition of the Tate brothers to the U.K., but only after the trial proceedings in Romania have been completed.
A controversial albeit popular figure online, Tate is best-known for his openly misogynistic rhetoric and for flaunting his seemingly wealthy lifestyle, complete with luxury cars, private jets and designer clothing.
FILE – Police officers escort Andrew Tate to the Court of Appeal in Bucharest, Romania, on Feb. 1, 2023.
Andreea Alexandru / The Associated Press
He’s been banned from numerous social media platforms over claims that his videos spread hateful messaging to his millions of followers, a large subset of whom were minors.
Who is Andrew Tate?
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, rose to social media fame for his showy displays of wealth and claims that he could teach young men how to become an “alpha male.”
His brazen misogyny has always made him a polarizing figure online, but his platform grew when he appeared as a contestant on the British version of reality TV show Big Brother in 2016. Tate was removed from the competition after a video of him surfaced in which he can be seen attacking a woman with a belt. Both Andrew and the woman in the video have since said the act was consensual.
In the years afterward, he’s became an idolized figure to some men who admire his anti-feminist messaging.
Among his more famous quotes, Tate has said it is impossible to be a realist, as he claims to be, while also believing in gender equality. He once had his X account deactivated for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted, though his account has since been reinstated.
He told the BBC in 2023 that he has not harmed young people with his misogynistic views but is rather “acting under the instruction of God to do good things.”
He used to run a now-defunct online coaching course, called Hustlers University, where he advertised teaching men various pickup techniques for a fee.
Prior to his arrests, Tate claimed to be a “self-made multi-millionaire” as a result of running an adult entertainment webcam business that would see women allegedly working for him, livestreaming explicit content.
— With files from Global News’ Sarah Do Couto and The Associated Press
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