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00:00The outskirts of Bucharest, Romania.
00:13Police officers arrest one of the world's best-known influencers, Andrew Tate.
00:19There's no justice in Romania, unfortunately.
00:22I'm a BBC filmmaker and I grew up in Romania.
00:26For more than a year, I've been looking at the case against Andrew Tate
00:30and investigating the adult entertainment business he was running in my home country.
00:36When they look at some women, they only see the dollar sign.
00:42I've also spoken to women in the UK who knew Andrew Tate before his rise to fame.
00:47They accuse him of rape.
00:50Strangling me, hurling abuse at me, threatening me.
00:55He's even sent me voice notes.
00:57Am I a bad person?
00:59Because the more you didn't like it, the more I enjoyed it.
01:03And I speak to Andrew Tate.
01:05Hello, we're coming in.
01:18Can you say a few words for me, Andrew?
01:20Testing, testing, one, two, three.
01:22I met Andrew Tate in June 2023.
01:26He'd just been put under house arrest after spending three months in jail,
01:30accused of human trafficking, organized crime and rape.
01:35My world title belts are over there.
01:37We've got the podcast studio as well.
01:39So we've got this and we've got our cigar lounge and that's basically it.
01:42His house was raided by officers from DECOD,
01:45the Romanian agency tasked with fighting organized crime.
01:50This safe was filled with valuables.
01:53What did you have there?
01:54Just some watches and a few things, but DECOD took it all.
01:59But that's life, what can you do?
02:06This room is known to his fans.
02:08Before he was arrested with his brother Tristan,
02:11he posted videos of parties here on YouTube,
02:14attracting millions of views.
02:18Andrew, you're not allowed to kidnap this many people.
02:30What is the next step?
02:31They're going to charge me with whatever they can get.
02:33It's going to go to a court and the court's going to throw it out
02:35and we'll be found innocent.
02:36I know I'm innocent, I live with a pure heart,
02:37I've never done anything wrong.
02:39But I'm within Romania and I'm beholden to the Romanian legal system
02:41and I refuse to be a fugitive and run away.
02:44So we have to accept what the outcome of the Romanian legal system is.
02:49This isn't the first time Andrew Tate's treatment of women
02:52has attracted the attention of the police.
02:56I've spoken to women in the UK who make allegations of sexual violence
03:00against him, going back years.
03:04We are protecting their identities.
03:07Luton is fairly small.
03:10There was only three clubs and then just a couple of other bars.
03:15Everyone just went to the same places, really, yeah.
03:20Siena, not her real name, says she met Andrew Tate
03:24on a night out in Luton in 2014.
03:29He was in to kick the police out of Luton.
03:31He was in to kick the police out of Luton.
03:33He was in to kickboxing then.
03:39I think, potentially, he kind of had a bit of a following on Twitter, maybe.
03:46He was born in the US and moved to the UK when he was 11.
03:51We got on really well, like, we had a few drinks.
03:53There was no, like, bad vibes.
03:55It was just kind of like a standard one-night stand.
03:58A few months later, Siena says they met again.
04:05We went to my bedroom and we were, like, laying on the bed
04:08and we started having sex.
04:12That was when he put his hands round my throat.
04:17I think he did it a few times, but, like, let go and...
04:20I think, like, maybe, like, the third time, he did it again.
04:23I think he did it a few times, but, like, let go and...
04:26I think, like, maybe, like, the third time, he did it.
04:29He didn't let go and I was, like, struggling for air
04:32and that was when I lost consciousness.
04:42He was still having sex with me when I came back round.
04:50I was, like, absolutely terrified.
04:53I just remember, like, that gasping for air was, like,
04:55really, really scary.
04:57Do you think he was aware of what was happening?
05:00Yeah, I think so, cos when you lose consciousness,
05:03like, I would have just gone completely limp.
05:08My consent was taken away from me
05:10and he was still having sex with me
05:13and at that point I hadn't consented to that happening.
05:16It was rape.
05:17Sienna says she woke up with a bloodshot eye.
05:23One of the whites of my eyes had just gone completely red
05:27and apparently it's quite common in domestic abuse cases
05:30where there's been strangulation.
05:34We've spoken to one of Sienna's friends,
05:36who says she told him about what had happened to her at the time.
05:40He also says he saw her with a gun.
05:43I just thought if I told people, they would just blame me.
05:46It makes me sad for my, like, younger self
05:49that I kind of let it happen to me.
05:55Almost six months after their arrest,
05:57the brothers are back in court in Romania.
06:00Andrew Tate is now in custody.
06:03He's been in custody for three years.
06:05He's been in custody for three years.
06:07He's been in custody for three years.
06:09He's been in custody for three years.
06:11Andrew Tate is now charged with rape,
06:14human trafficking and forming an organised crime group
06:18to sexually exploit women.
06:20How much money did you make from exploiting women?
06:22Zero, no.
06:24Are you sorry?
06:25Are you alright?
06:28We've seen the summary of the case file against Andrew Tate.
06:32The prosecution says they spoke to seven women
06:35and compiled more than 300 pages of testimony and transcripts.
06:41The BBC can't confirm their accuracy.
06:46The Romanian prosecutors say they have testimony from a woman
06:50who alleges she was strangled by Andrew Tate during sex.
06:55The case file says that, like Siena told me,
06:58the alleged victim experienced blood vessels bursting in her eye.
07:03Have you ever strangled a woman without her consent?
07:07No, and I can't answer this.
07:09The answer is no.
07:10The answer is no.
07:11No, why would I strangle a woman without her consent?
07:13I'm a full-grown man.
07:14No.
07:15I know I've never hurt anybody.
07:16It's not in my nature to hurt people.
07:18It's in my nature to provide and protect.
07:26I was still very sporty then.
07:28I am still very sporty.
07:30I was still very sporty then.
07:32I am still very active.
07:35Anna, not her real name,
07:38says she first met the Tate brothers in Luton when she was 17.
07:43I'm not that much different.
07:45I'm just a lot, obviously, wiser.
07:48I'm just a lot more cautious.
07:51Still the same amount of fun, though, I like to think.
07:54A few years later, in 2013,
07:58Anna says she started going out with Andrew Tate.
08:02After a few dates, she says she went to his house.
08:09I went up the stairs with him to the bedroom.
08:13He started kissing me on the bed
08:16and then he just looked up at the ceiling
08:18and I remember thinking,
08:21and I remember thinking,
08:23this is weird.
08:25He only said,
08:27I'm just debating whether I should rape you or not.
08:36Out of the blue, he just got up,
08:39grabbed me by the throat,
08:41smashed me to the back of the bed,
08:43strangling me extremely hard
08:45and he's telling me to take my trousers off
08:47and I'm, like, refusing
08:49and I'm, like, no, Andrew, you said you wouldn't
08:51and he's getting more and more angry at me,
08:54strangling me, hurling abuse at me,
08:57threatening me.
09:01Went straight home,
09:03got in the bath,
09:05started to cry.
09:09It's hard for me because I
09:11try to block all that memory
09:13out of my brain
09:15because it upsets me too much.
09:17I get too upset.
09:19I can't.
09:31Afterwards, Anna says
09:33Andrew Tate sent her text messages
09:35and voice notes
09:37about rape and sexual violence.
09:39Am I a bad person?
09:41Because the more
09:43you didn't like it, the more I enjoyed it.
09:45I f***ing loved how much you hated it.
09:47Turn me on.
09:49Why am I like that?
09:51Why?
09:55In another voice note,
09:57he speaks about strangulation.
09:59Are you seriously so offended
10:01I strangled you a little bit?
10:03You didn't f***ing pass out.
10:07Panorama is aware of five women
10:09who say they've been strangled by Andrew Tate.
10:11I'd get the text
10:13and I'd feel
10:15really sick about it.
10:25Anna says Andrew Tate sent her
10:27this text message.
10:29He talks about loving
10:31to rape her.
10:41After the alleged rape,
10:43Anna says she continued to see
10:45Andrew Tate for a few months
10:47before breaking up with him.
10:49What's going to make me feel better
10:51for what's just happened?
10:53Well, if I still see him,
10:55then it's consensual.
10:57So then that makes that disappear.
10:59That's how I was able to cope
11:01with going to sleep at night.
11:07In 2014,
11:10she told police
11:12Andrew Tate had raped her.
11:14Two other women
11:16made similar allegations
11:18and an investigation started.
11:22In 2019, a file was sent
11:24to the Crown Prosecution Service.
11:26It decided
11:28there wasn't enough evidence
11:30to bring charges.
11:32Have you ever had sex
11:34with a woman against her will?
11:36Absolutely not. I would be charged and in jail
11:38No.
11:40And I find it very strange
11:42you're asking me this question.
11:44The answer is obviously, of course, no.
11:46That's a crime.
11:48CBS, the Crown Prosecution Service,
11:50found me innocent
11:52and found me not to have done those things.
11:54If you believe in the British legal system
11:56and you believe in the justice system,
11:58you should be,
12:00OK, Andrew's innocent,
12:02there's nothing to talk about.
12:04And that's the case.
12:06I've spoken to a number of women
12:08who say all of these things happened.
12:10Strangulation without their consent
12:12and having sex with them against their will.
12:14Are they lying?
12:16I don't commit crimes.
12:18It's not who I am as a person.
12:20I've never hurt anybody, male or female.
12:28For millions of boys and young men,
12:30Andrew Tate was already
12:32a household name
12:34before he was arrested.
12:42My name is Andrew Tate,
12:44four-time kickboxing world champion,
12:46multi-millionaire and all-around nice guy,
12:48was at one time the most Googled man on the planet.
12:50The majority of his content
12:52actually looks and sounds
12:54quite innocent
12:56or like he's giving advice to boys,
12:58to young men
13:00who might be in some kind of identity crisis
13:02and might look for their own sense
13:04of what is it to be masculine,
13:06what is it to be a man.
13:08Then there are parts to his rhetoric
13:10that are very clearly misogynistic,
13:12that are very clearly hateful.
13:14That's how it goes.
13:16Slap, slap, grab, choke,
13:18shut up, bitch, sex.
13:20Women give sex to get attention.
13:22That's how it should work.
13:24Women are dumb.
13:26We know it.
13:28We're not supposed to say it.
13:31He's gained more than 3 million followers
13:33since being charged
13:35in June last year.
13:37Andrew Tate's content
13:39can be really dangerous
13:41and potentially radicalising.
13:43I do think that he has something
13:45that distinguishes him from other influencers
13:47where he is really able
13:49to get to his audiences
13:51and to understand quickly
13:53what they need
13:55and cater to that.
14:01You walk around Bucharest
14:03with Lamos, Raris, Lamos
14:05with mafia money.
14:15Around 2016,
14:17Andrew Tate moved to Romania
14:19with his brother Tristan.
14:21He's also an influencer
14:23with more than 3 million followers
14:25of his own.
14:27My name is Tristan Tate.
14:29I think the smarter and better looking
14:31half of the Tate brothers.
14:35People say, why do you live in Romania?
14:37And I explain my five reasons.
14:39One of them is the MeToo era.
14:41They go, oh, you're a rapist.
14:43I say, no, I'm not a rapist.
14:45But I like the idea of being able
14:47to just say, to do what I want.
14:49I like being free.
14:51Local journalists took an interest
14:53in the Tate brothers
14:55right from the start.
14:57Living here in Romania,
14:59Andrew said many times
15:01he chose to live in Romania
15:03because it's a poor country,
15:05corrupted,
15:07and it's easier for him to be here.
15:09The webcam industry
15:11here in Romania is very popular.
15:17The Tate brothers had been running
15:19a webcamming business in Luton
15:21where women chat and strip online
15:23for money.
15:25A journalist apparently saw
15:27that business take off.
15:29Romania has one of the largest
15:31webcam industries in the world.
15:33In Romania, you have faster internet,
15:35more girls, prettier girls,
15:37and we just grew into an empire.
15:39Me and my brother, eight women
15:41living in one house,
15:43and all the women adored us
15:45and they obeyed us.
15:47And at the peak, I was turning over
15:49400 grand a month.
15:51The webcamming business
15:53is one of the main implications
15:55of trafficking in the Romanian case
15:57against Andrew and Tristan Tate.
16:05The industry is so big
16:07that it feels like
16:09it's now normal to say
16:11I am a webcam model.
16:13Raluca,
16:15not her real name,
16:17is a Romanian webcam model
16:19in Bucharest.
16:22Why did you decide
16:24to do the interview anonymously?
16:26They can always share my naked
16:28content anywhere.
16:30They are men with influence,
16:32with resources.
16:34They are dangerous people.
16:36Raluca says she
16:38dated Tristan Tate briefly
16:40and that in 2021
16:42she started working for the brothers.
16:44This is the first time
16:46she's described publicly
16:48what she says happened to her.
16:50Control and manipulation
16:52play a primary role
16:54in their business model.
16:56That's the way they work.
16:58Basically, the girls who worked
17:00for them were in love with them.
17:02Some, not all,
17:04but all those who were in love with them
17:06could be manipulated.
17:08They have to love you.
17:10It's essential
17:12to the business because otherwise
17:14women have no loyalty.
17:20The Romanian case file
17:22alleges that Andrew Tate
17:24trafficked two women from the UK
17:26to work alongside Romanian women.
17:28The prosecutors
17:30say the brothers were recruiting,
17:32arranging their transport
17:34and providing accommodation
17:36for the women in Bucharest
17:38for the purpose of exploitation.
17:40Did you ever
17:42hear of women being brought
17:44from the UK or from different parts
17:46of the world?
17:48When they were running their
17:50webcam studios, they had employees
17:52brought from London, from the UK.
17:54I even met
17:56girls who were from the UK
17:58and lived in Romania.
18:00They worked for them
18:02and they were probably dating them too.
18:08The prosecutors in Romania
18:10allege that Andrew Tate
18:12was in charge of the business.
18:14In the past,
18:16he played up his role.
18:18I had four premises
18:20and I had 75 girls on the books.
18:22They weren't all working at once
18:24but it's 75 girls who do one shift a week
18:26or three days a week or seven days a week.
18:2875 women worked for me at the peak of it all.
18:30So how many women worked for you?
18:32Don't know. Can't remember.
18:34You were saying 75 at some point?
18:36Yeah, that's a complete lie.
18:38I'm not making up the numbers.
18:40Everything I'm saying now is everything
18:42I've seen on your website at some point.
18:4475 women worked for me. I can't think of a number.
18:46There was a while when I was involved in managing some women.
18:48This is 10 years ago at the very beginning of it.
18:50I made some money but it's not the beginning
18:52of my empire. It's not why I'm successful
18:54and it's not something I have anything to do with anymore.
19:06Tristan had contacted me
19:08on Facebook. He messaged me
19:10saying, I run
19:13a webcamming business. I think you'd do great.
19:15You've got a really good look.
19:19Daisy, not her real name,
19:21is speaking for the first time publicly
19:23about her experience
19:25with the Tate brothers.
19:27She says she was dating
19:29Tristan Tate in the UK
19:31when he encouraged her to join
19:33his webcam business in 2017.
19:37Tristan told me that
19:39the webcam business is run
19:41from his place
19:43that he shares with his brother in Romania
19:47and there's a bunch of girls
19:49who all work from the same place
19:51so I thought
19:53it could be a new adventure for me
19:55something to try. If I didn't like it
19:57I wouldn't have to carry on.
19:59Daisy isn't part
20:01of the Romanian prosecution's case
20:03but she says she was one
20:05of the British women recruited
20:07to work for the Tate brothers.
20:09We've seen evidence that Tristan Tate
20:11booked her flight to Bucharest.
20:17She says she was taken to one of their
20:19homes.
20:21Including me, there were four girls
20:23plus
20:25the female manager.
20:29The girls had their own rooms
20:31but it wasn't their personal space.
20:33Everything was Tristan's and Andrew's.
20:35The bedrooms that
20:37the girls worked in were also
20:39the bedrooms that the brothers would sleep in.
20:41Daisy says
20:43she soon realised it wasn't
20:45just her dating one of the brothers.
20:47Most women in the house were too
20:49and she says there were
20:51strict rules for all of them.
20:53We're in this situation
20:55where almost every aspect
20:57of the girls lives is monitored
20:59other than what they eat, their social
21:01aspect, their work life,
21:03how they travel.
21:05Generally, it was either
21:07in the mansion or out with the brothers.
21:09This is just a very controlling
21:11environment.
21:13I don't know what kind of bitch-ass dude is letting
21:15his chicks go to the club with her friends
21:17without him. No.
21:19You stay in the house.
21:21You don't go nowhere.
21:23No restaurants, no clubs,
21:25nothing.
21:28The Romanian prosecutors
21:30say they have statements from
21:32three women who describe
21:34feeling controlled by
21:36the Tate brothers.
21:38In the case file,
21:40the women say they were not
21:42allowed to leave the house
21:44on their own.
21:46How much freedom
21:48did the women that worked for you have?
21:50They didn't work for me. They worked for themselves
21:52and I helped them with everything.
21:54They didn't work for me.
21:56They worked for themselves and I helped them with a few things.
21:58I had less control
22:00over them by helping them out
22:02than any normal boss of any normal
22:04job would have control.
22:06I just helped them find a cameraman.
22:08And the idea that I had control is absolutely insane.
22:10I had less control than the boss at McDonald's
22:12has over McDonald's employees.
22:14But, Andrew, what you're saying is diminishing
22:16your whole webcam business to just being the
22:18person who found the camera man for
22:20the women. Correct. I'm telling you there was never a
22:22substantial webcam business that made £300,000 a month.
22:24So you lied about it?
22:26I wouldn't say it was a lie.
22:28Certainly there has been a lot of exaggeration online.
22:30I'm certainly not the only one guilty of it.
22:32I think everybody on Instagram is exaggerating.
22:34Filters exist. Rented cars exist.
22:36People exaggerate on the internet.
22:38I'm the only person who's being punished for it.
22:44A few days after arriving
22:46in Romania from the UK,
22:48Daisy says she broke up with Tristan Tate.
22:50But she says that didn't stop him.
22:56He'd come in the room
22:58and he
23:00was wanting to have sex
23:02with me. I told him no
23:0410 to 15 times
23:06that I didn't want to
23:08and he just put his hands
23:10around my throat and proceeded to do
23:12what he wanted to do anyway.
23:14I just
23:16hate the fact
23:18that I couldn't even stick up for myself
23:20and then that brings
23:22such a level of self-hatred
23:24and anger
23:26towards yourself.
23:34Daisy hasn't reported
23:36her allegation to the police.
23:38We spoke to one of her friends
23:40who says after the incident
23:43after Daisy returned to the UK
23:45she was upset
23:47and told him Tristan Tate
23:49had been forceful with her sexually.
23:57Tristan Tate hasn't been charged
23:59with rape in the Romanian case
24:01but together with his brother
24:03he's charged with human trafficking
24:05and organized crime.
24:07Did you exploit any women, Tristan?
24:09He's also accused of
24:11inciting others to violence.
24:13We asked
24:15Tristan Tate about all the allegations
24:17against him. He declined
24:19to comment.
24:27Andrew Tate now has more than
24:2910 million followers on X.
24:31In July this year
24:33he helped spread a false story
24:35that an illegal immigrant had killed
24:37three young girls in Southport.
24:39He was accused of inflaming tensions.
24:41I don't see any protests
24:43in the UK. I don't see anybody complaining.
24:45Nobody's outside of the school.
24:47Nobody's outside the police station.
24:49The soul of the Western man is so broken
24:51that when the invaders
24:53slaughter your daughters
24:55you do absolutely f***ing nothing.
24:59After a week of violent disturbances
25:01Andrew Tate said things are too tense
25:03in the UK and that he's praying
25:05for everyone.
25:07He's since admitted
25:09he was wrong about the background
25:11of the Southport suspect.
25:13Extremism is always on a spectrum
25:15Andrew Tate would probably sit
25:17somewhere where he is a hate preacher.
25:19He is
25:21someone who does endorse
25:23ideological extremist
25:25ideas and deeply
25:27misogynist ideas that are incompatible
25:29with human rights and fundamental
25:31rights.
25:33Then,
25:35in August this year,
25:37Andrew and Tristan Tate's legal troubles
25:39deepened. The Romanian authorities
25:41raided their home again
25:43and they were taken back into custody.
25:45We live in an empire of lies
25:47and I've explained this at length before
25:49and their goal is to punish
25:51the truth tellers because we are not their allies.
25:53Romanian prosecutors
25:55are investigating fresh allegations
25:57against the brothers
25:59including claims they trafficked
26:0234 women.
26:04Andrew Tate is also being investigated
26:06over claims he had sex
26:08with a minor and was put back
26:10under house arrest.
26:12This is a setup that is done on purpose
26:14and it is designed to come up
26:16with the most heinous possible crimes
26:18to slander our name. This is disgusting.
26:22A trial date
26:24for the original allegations
26:26has yet to be set
26:28when the prosecution's evidence
26:30will be put to the test.
26:32If found guilty
26:34they could face more than 10 years
26:36in prison.
26:38I look forward to the truth coming out.
26:40I look forward to the truth being blasted all over the BBC
26:42that Andrew Tate was found not guilty because I've never done anything
26:44wrong and all I can do is take the lessons
26:46I learned and move forward.
26:50We asked Andrew Tate
26:52about the most recent allegations against him.
26:54He declined to comment.
26:56Back in the UK
26:58Sienna and Anna
27:00are suing him at the High Court in London.
27:02Along with two other women
27:04they accuse him of sexual assault
27:06and rape. He's defending
27:08the claim.
27:10The last few years have been quite difficult.
27:12It's important for him to be held accountable
27:14I think because hopefully
27:16the women whose lives he's ruined
27:18can get some kind of
27:20justice for what he's done to them.
27:22I just want him
27:24held accountable
27:26for what he's done
27:28which he hasn't been yet.
27:30Then I think we can all finally
27:32feel safe.
27:34I hope I can sleep better
27:36at night.
27:38That's literally all I want.
27:40It's a good night's sleep.
27:42To be able to relax
27:44for once.
27:46That would be lovely.
27:48Details of organisations offering support
27:50if you've suffered sexual assault
27:52or domestic abuse
27:54are available on the Actionline pages
27:56of the BBC website.
28:18.