Andrew Tate is a controversial media personality and former kickboxer.
Influencer Andrew Tate was detained Thursday by Romanian authorities on suspicion of human trafficking. Just the day before, he was ridiculed online after a Twitter feud with climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Here are 5 facts on Andrew Tate:
- He gained a following online, comprising mainly young men, by advocating for a hyper masculine lifestyle.
- In 2016, he was a contestant on UK reality show Big Brother, and was expelled from the show after a video of him hitting a woman with a belt surfaced online.
- He is a former professional kickboxer. After retiring, he has mainly been active as a businessman and a social media influencer.
- In the past, he has been banned from Twitter, for saying that women should "take responsibility" for being sexually assaulted. He was reinstated after Elon Musk's Twitter takeover.
- He currently has over 3.8 million followers on Twitter, where he regularly encourages his followers to "take the red pill", a reference to the movie "The Matrix". "Taking the red pill" is a common call used by alt right internet users to encourage others to question the status quo.
