Internet influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have returned to Romania from the United States where they are accused of human trafficking and other crimes.
"We've come here to prove our innocence because we deserve our day in court," Andrew Tate told reporters on March 22 outside his house in the town of Voluntari, near Bucharest.
The two brothers, who have British and American passports, face charges in Romania that include human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group. Andrew Tate is also accused of rape.
According to prosecutors, they recruited several women and forced them to produce pornographic content, from which they earned large sums of money. Both have strongly denied the charges.
5 Things To Know About The Tate Brothers
Case In Romania: Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, are dual U.S.-U.K. citizens. They were arrested in December 2022 and indicted with two Romanian women on charges that include human trafficking and sexual misconduct. In December, a Bucharest court ruled the case couldn’t proceed due to legal and procedural irregularities but it remained open, alongside a separate case against them.
Infamy And Fame: Former kickboxers turned influencers, the brothers gained notoriety for Andrew’s controversial views and self-proclaimed misogyny. He has 10.7 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) but was banned from platforms like Facebook and TikTok for hate speech.
Support For Trump: During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Tates endorsed Donald Trump, and they have ties to his administration. One of Andrew’s lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, was recently appointed White House liaison for the Department of Justice.
A Sudden Departure: The Tates left Romania after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu’s said that a U.S. official in Trump’s administration showed interest in their case at the Munich Security Conference. He denied any political pressure. The Tates have rejected all the charges they are facing, with Andrew claiming a political conspiracy against him.
Charges In Britain: Pending the resolution of their Romanian case, Britain is also seeking the extradition of the Tates in connection with rape and human trafficking allegations. Andrew also faces a civil lawsuit from four British women alleging sexual violence.
Although they are under "judicial control," meaning they must regularly report to authorities, Romania lifted a travel ban in February that had kept them from leaving the country. On February 27, the brothers traveled to Florida.
Now that they are back in Romania, the two have been summoned to a police station in Voluntari on March 24, an obligation they must comply with, according to judicial control procedures.
"We got our passports back. We live in Romania, we love Romania. We will never leave Romania. We have a house in Romania, we have Romanian children," Andrew Tate said, according to Ştirileprotv.
He insisted that the two, investigated in Romania for forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, including minors, rape, and money laundering, "should never have gone to prison" and that "our assets should not have been confiscated" and that "our names should not have been slandered."
In December, a Romanian appeals court ruled that the trafficking case against the Tates could not go to trial because of several legal and procedural irregularities from the prosecutors. The case has since been returned to the prosecutors and remains open.
Andrew Tate, 38, told reporters on March 22 that he and Tristan, 36, had come back to Romania "to clear our names and exonerate ourselves."
Before arriving in Voluntari, he wrote on his X account, which has nearly 10.8 million followers, that he spent $185,000 just to sign a paper in Romania. "Innocent men don't run," he wrote in the post, accompanied by a photo of him and his brother on a private plane.
Often described as the "king of toxic masculinity," Andrew Tate -- a former kickboxer and reality TV star -- found global notoriety through controversial online videos promoting hypermasculinity. He has since built a multimillion-dollar brand targeting "alpha males."
SEE ALSO: After Andrew Tate's Arrest, Romanian Police Cite The 'Lover Boy' Tactic. That's Just One Way Traffickers Trick Women.In addition to the charges they face in Romania, the brothers are also under investigation in the United Kingdom over allegations of rape and human trafficking.
In the United States, the Tate brothers face a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says they coerced her into sex work and defamed her after she gave evidence to Romanian prosecutors.
The brothers also face tax evasion charges in the United Kingdom.
They have denied those accusations as well.