Romanian authorities deny pizza box led to Andrew Tate’s arrest as influencer held for 30 days

Far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson is under fire for defending Andrew Tate while Romanian police were investigating him for alleged human trafficking.

In an interview with the misogynist social media influencer in August of this year, Mr Carlson incredulously asked his audience: “They’re telling us he’s a criminal. Okay: has he been charged? Who are the victims?”

Jo Dodds has more:

ICYMI: Greta Thunberg responded to news that Andrew Tate has been detained in Romania, very possibly thanks to their recent Twitter spat.

On Thursday, the controversial online personality and his brother Tristan were detained in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

On Friday, Thunberg responded to news that their online spat had aided in Tate’s arrest. Read more here:

Andrew Tate posted a bizarre tweet after his arrest in Romania on Friday.

At 10.30am GMT, Tate posted to his Twitter account: “The Matrix sent their agents.”

The tweet, made in reference to his arrest, led to confusion whether Tate was detained but his lawyer later confirmed he was still in custody. A Romanian court later agreed a request from police to be able to detain him for 30 days.

Read more from Ellie Muir here:

A video has resurfaced showing Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan mocking Lewis Hamilton.

The pair allegedly discussed violence against the British Formula 1 star, the Mirror reports.

The siblings were attending a race earlier this year when they talked about the seven-time world champion on camera. Andrew Tate began the rant by belittling the Brit’s talent and claiming he could match his achievements if put behind the wheel of an F1 car.

“It’s not impressive, I can do that,” he said.

A journalist who claims he was harassed by Andrew Tate said the influencer “aggressively” banged on his door after Tommy Robinson exposed the reporter’s address online.

The arrests come three years after freelance journalist Mike Stuchbery had encounters with Tate and Robinson, after writing about the far-right.

Mr Stuchbery said Tate appeared at his home on two occasions in 2019, demanding entry and forcing the writer to call the police.

Mr Stuchbery recalled the incident with Tate after reports of his arrest emerged on Friday.

“At the time my then-wife was not really well so when he turned up and started banging on the door I didn’t answer,” Mr Stuchbery told The Independent.

“Who’s going to answer the door when that sort of thing is happening? He was banging aggressively saying I should come out and talk to him and that he just wanted to talk.”

Thomas Kingsley has more:

Social media influencer Andrew Tate rose to notoriety in 2016 when he was removed from British TV show Big Brother over a video that appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt.

A former kickboxing world champion, 36-year-old Tate amassed millions of followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.

He claimed in an interview with Piers Morgan this month that he was the “most googled man on earth”, but Google Trends ranked him the eighth most searched person globally in 2022.

His commentary across social media platforms has been met with controversy.

In 2017, he was banned on Twitter for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually assaulted.

Tate said last year on the Anything Goes with James English podcast: “I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I’m absolutely a misogynist.”

In August, he was banned by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for violating policies.

But he was reinstated to Twitter last month and has 3.7 million followers.

It was reported on Friday that Tate had been detained in Romania, where he moved five years ago, as part of a human trafficking investigation.

On his website, Tate has described himself as a multi-millionaire who grew up “broke as a joke” with his brother, Tristan, in a single-mother household.

Tate and his brother – who have reportedly been under investigation since April – will be detained for 24 hours.

Here’s everything you need to know.

ICYMI: Just hours after Andrew Tate’s humiliating Twitter spat with climate activist Greta Thunberg, the controversial influencer was arrested by Romanian authorities for human trafficking and rape investigation.

The 36-year-old former kickboxer, who gained infamy for his misogynist views, was apprehended by Romanian police after they descended on a villa where he was staying with his brother on Thursday.

It is speculated that the arrest may have never happened if he had not posted a clapback video to mock Ms Thunberg on Twitter.

However, in an interview with the Washington Post, Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, denied that the pizza boxes in the Twitter video played a part in Mr Tate’s arrest, saying, “it was a hard job gathering all the evidence”.

Read more here:

ICYMI: Romanian prosecutors have reportedly been granted permission to detain controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate for 30 days.

He was arrested late on Thursday with his brother Tristan and two other Romanian suspects after a raid on his house in Bucharest.

Earlier, a police spokesperson told the BBC that the 36-year-old would be held at a “detention centre”.

Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) issued a statement, but did not name the Tates, saying two British citizens and two Romanians were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking.

Prosecutors had applied to a Bucharest court early on Friday for the right to hold the suspects beyond 24 hours and that has now been granted, the Associated Press reported.

According to the directorate, six injured people have been identified in relation to the investigation, one of whom is said to have been violently sexually assaulted in March.

Some of the suspects allegedly used the “loverboy” method of trafficking, which involves a man luring a victim into a relationship in order to sexually exploit them later, DIICOT said.

The victims were transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county, which surrounds Bucharest, where they were coerced into making pornographic content, it is alleged.

DIICOT released a video of the raid showing guns, knives and money on display in one room.

Outside the court, the Tates’ lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, said they would appeal against the detention.

“We are not at a stage where guilt or innocence is proven, for now we only discuss preventive measures,” he added. Mr Vidineac told the BBC his clients reject all the allegations.

Andrew Tate, 36, has yet to comment directly on the accusations.

ICYMI: Far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson is under fire for defending Andrew Tate even while Romanian police were investigating him for alleged human trafficking.

In an interview with the misogynist social media influencer in August of this year, Mr Carlson incredulously asked his audience: “They’re telling us he’s a criminal. Okay: has he been charged? Who are the victims?”

Those questions were answered on Friday when police in Romania arrested Mr Tate and his brother on suspicion of human trafficking and rape, accusing them and two other people of forming “an organised crime group” to make money from coerced pornography.