Andrew Tate

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

MAGA and manosphere podcasts helped Andrew Tate reach millions while he was stateside

The misogynist influencer’s girlfriend reportedly says he sexually assaulted her while he was in the States

Written by Reed McMaster

Research contributions from Kayla Gogarty & Payton Armstrong

Published

When manosphere influencer Andrew Tate, who is facing charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania, returned to the United States following the removal of his travel restrictions, pro-Trump and manosphere podcasters quickly propped him up. While Tate was in the U.S., at least 5 podcasters interviewed him, and their videos with Tate have since garnered at least 47.8 million views across social media. 

And now, according to reporting from TMZ, Tate’s girlfriend says that he assaulted her during his stay in the U.S. and that she has filed a police report against him.

  • Tate is one of the most well-known influencers in the manosphere, a collection of conservative influencers known for promoting abuse and extreme violence against women. Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate are facing charges that include rape and human trafficking in Romania, where they moved because, as Andrew Tate claimed, he liked “living in countries where corruption is accessible to everybody.” They are also under investigation for similar charges in the UK, and the Florida government has launched a criminal investigation into the brothers.

    After Romanian prosecutors removed travel restrictions on the brothers in late February, Tate visited the United States for several weeks and then returned to Romania. According to TMZ, “one of Andrew Tate’s girlfriends” filed a sexual assault report a few days after Tate left for Romania. TMZ wrote that she “says he nearly choked her unconscious during a violent sexual encounter” on March 11, and it published an image of a medical document that diagnosed her as “post-concussive” a couple days after the encounter.

    During the Tate brothers' time in the United States, Andrew Tate made appearances on 5 different right-leaning podcasts — the Hodgetwins’ Twins Pod, the Nelk Boys’ Full Send, Sean Kelly’s Digital Social Hour, Patrick Bet-David’s PBD Podcast, and Candace Owens’ Candace. These shows posted full-length versions of the interviews on YouTube, with some also uploading them to Rumble, Apple Podcasts, and/or Spotify. Full interviews on YouTube and Rumble accrued over 9 million views. The podcasts have also amplified clips from their shows with Tate on YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, and Instagram — adding over 30.8 million views to the content.

    The Nelk Boys’ Kyle Forgeard, host of Full Send, posted other content with Tate that garnered over 8 million more views, and the Nelk Boys walked into a UFC Power Slap event with the Tate Brothers, where UFC President and Trump ally Dana White welcomed them, hugging Andrew and saying, “Welcome to the States, boys.”

    Tate’s arrival in the U.S. drew criticism from some right-wing media figures, and during his podcast interviews, he took specific aim at some conservatives. He also promoted antisemitic talking points, telling Full Send host Forgeard that America doesn’t have free speech because you can’t “speak out against the Jews.”

    Other right-wing media figures supported Tate. MAGA firebrand and self-described “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer defended him after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the brothers are not welcome in his state. And BlazeMedia’s Jason Whitlock — who had previously criticized Andrew — insisted that Tate is “necessary to win this information war.”