Andrew Tate's Trafficking Arrest Comes After a Series of Bizarre Events

Former professional kickboxer and social media personality Andrew Tate has been detained in Romania as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape.

The 36-year-old's home in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, was raided on Thursday, December 29, and he was detained alongside his brother Tristan, 34, and two Romanian nationals.

Videos circulating on social media appear to show Tate and his brother being led away by Romanian police from their luxury villa. Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) also released a video of the raid, showing guns, knives and money in the villa.

According to Reuters, prosecutors said the four detainees are suspected of creating an "organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost." Newsweek has contacted Tate's representatives for comment.

The Tate brothers have been under investigation since April. However, this is not the first time Tate has made headlines—over the past year, he has been at the center of several controversies.

Newsweek has taken a look back at some of the most bizarre events surrounding the former kickboxer and online personality before his trafficking arrest:

The 5 Bizarre Events That Happened Before Andrew Tate's Arrest

1. War of Words With Greta Thunberg

On Wednesday, December 28, Tate tweeted at 19-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg directly, boasting about the "enormous emissions" from his luxury car collection.

He tagged Thunberg in the tweet, asking for her email address so he could "send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions." He attached a picture of himself filling up his Bugatti supercar with petrol.

In a tweet that has since garnered over 3 million likes on the social media site, Thunberg responded: "yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com."

Using Thunberg's own words from the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019, Tate replied: "How dare you?!"

2. The Pizza Video

Over 10 hours after his exchange with Thunberg, Tate posted a two-minute-long video on Twitter addressing the teenage climate change activist.

He captioned the clip: "Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg. The world was curious. And I do agree you should get a life."

Dressed in a red silk robe, Tate was seen smoking a cigar, sarcastically stating: "I'm obviously a stranger to online controversy, it's not something I often do."

In his rant, he questioned Thunberg's gender and alleged she had been "programmed," calling her a "slave of the matrix."

Tate also got pizzas from a Romanian takeaway delivered to his table, which some believe could have led to his arrest. Less than 24 hours after posting the video, Tate was detained by Romanian police and his house was raided.

Thunberg has not responded to Tate's video but following his arrest, she tweeted: "This is what happens when you don't recycle your pizza boxes."

3. Andrew Tate Shares Thoughts on Kanye West

In early December 2022, Tate shared his take on Kanye West, who has been at the center of several controversies recently.

The rapper—who has officially changed his name to Ye—was widely condemned over antisemitic comments and his praise of Adolf Hitler. The fashion designer was dropped by several leading brands including Adidas, GAP, J.P. Morgan, and others.

West has also been suspended from Twitter for violating the platform's rules against "inciting violence" after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with the Star of David.

In an interview clip posted by the UnitedSatesofClips YouTube account, Tate describes West as having "firsthand experience of the heart of the Matrix."

He said: "I think that even if I personally disagree with some of the things you've said, I think that people standing up and challenging the slave think, the one-track mind, is good as a whole."

Tate added: "I think on a whole, he [West] is on a good mission. He's trying to stop people from just absorbing the slave mind think, the one-track mind, and to actually think for themselves. For that reason, I have a lot of respect for him."

4. Social Media Bans

Major social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, have banned Tate from their platforms following his misogynistic commentary.

He was removed from Twitter in 2021 after he tweeted that women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted. Facebook and Instagram banned him following an online campaign to de-platform him.

Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta stated Tate had violated their policies on "dangerous organizations and individuals."

Tate's TikTok account was also removed after the video-sharing platform ruled he had violated policies on "content that attacks, threatens, incites violence against, or otherwise dehumanizes an individual or a group."

YouTube suspended his channel, citing multiple violations, including hate speech and COVID-19 misinformation.

With the arrival of Elon Musk as the new CEO of Twitter in October 2022, Tate's account was reinstated.

5. Andrew Tate's Hustler's University

In 2021, Tate founded Hustler's University, an online community focused on all things business.

Tate described it as "a community where you will have access to stock analysis, options plays, crypto analysis, DeFi, e-commerce, copywriting, freelancing, flipping, real estate, financial planning, affiliate marketing, business management, and more."

The program aims to help its "cash-school" students by providing education, coaching, and teaching new skills to help rocket them into a wealthy stratosphere, including reaching millionaire status.

In August 2022, Hustler's University 2.0 officially closed. According to its website, it was due to a "massive platform upgrade." Tate launched the latest version of Hustler's University, known as HU3 in August 2022.

Its closure had come just after Tate was slammed over derogatory, violent, and misogynistic comments about women online.

Tate had encouraged Hustler's University to post videos of him to get as many referrals as possible and earn a commission. As a result, thousands of videos of the kickboxer went viral online.

An investigation by The Observer found followers were explicitly encouraged to create "arguments" and "war" by posting deliberately controversial clips which would generate more views for Hustler's University and Tate. These instructions have since been deleted.

Tate's University Room has also faced accusations online that it is a pyramid scheme and a scam, but this has never been proven.