Yahoo Lifestyle EXCLUSIVE: Lawyer gearing up to fight Andrew Tate has no fear
The name ‘Andrew Tate’ has become synonymous with rising levels of misogyny and the seemingly ever-growing political divide between young men and women – but the crimes laid at his door run far deeper than that. And they apparently span from the UK to the US to Romania.
Andrew, along with his brother, Tristan, has made millions of pounds via social media and online courses, that instruct young men how to ‘level up’ by focussing on muscle growth, discipline, aggression and wealth (or else be branded a weak loser or a ‘cuck’), along with how to ‘beat the shit out of’ any women who dare challenge them.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, in January 2023, the brothers were arrested in Romania following sex trafficking accusations, amidst claims they had duped multiple women, including some from the UK, into believing they were in an exclusive relationship with either one of them. They then allegedly coerced the women into filming pornographic content – footage that the Tates later sold online, keeping the profits for themselves. Andrew is also under investigation for rape. The brothers have denied all charges.
The cases are complex and span three countries, meaning that in addition to the case in Romania, the Tate brothers are also wanted by British police following accusations from four women and over in the US, 23-year-old Jane Doe* (based in Florida) was forced to file a defamation counter lawsuit against them, after the brothers labelled her a liar and tried to sue her (and her parents) for millions of dollars, along with encouraging an internet pile-on. Why? Because she dared to speak up about her alleged experiences with them.
Now, Jane's lawyer Dani Pinter, Senior Legal Counsel at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), is gearing up for her portion of the fight, as they wait to hear what a separate new investigation into the Tates, at the hands of Florida's governor Ron DeSantis, will unearth.
What does Jane* allege she experienced at the hands of the Tate brothers?
Jane claims that she began speaking with Tristan online at the age of 20 and fell in love with him, later agreeing to travel from the US to Romania as she believed they were in an exclusive relationship, only to arrive and be forced to live in a house with multiple other women who appeared miserable and malnourished.
These women, Jane says, were being forced to perform sexual acts on OnlyFans and hand the profits over to the Tates.
“There's still a lot that people need to understand about sexual exploitation, about trafficking, which is that it can involve emotional manipulation and lies,” says Pinter.
“It’s what the Tate brothers taught, right? They were very good at spotting people with trauma, vulnerabilities, and then they would exploit that.”
“They would then create a bond, a situation where a woman feels so dependent on one person, before isolating her from any other relationships and pushing her boundaries more and more, until the next thing you know, she's doing a lot of things she never meant to do,” Pinter explains.
“Or she’s even convinced she wanted to do the webcam and give him all the money. Something they bragged about. That was their MO and that's what the women in Romania alleged happened, too.”
Since the Tates hit back, Jane has been laying low, unable to leave the house to work or see friends, and in Pinter’s words is “terrified, living in hiding”.
Will the Tates' lifted travel ban affect the case?
Jane’s fears have intensified of late, since it’s been suggested that the Trump administration were the ones to pressure the Romanian government into lifting a travel ban on the brothers (something the President has denied knowledge of), who suddenly appeared in Florida weeks later, having left the country and travelled by private jet for the first time in well over a year.
Tate’s four UK-based accusers even issued a statement airing their concerns after hearing Romania had seemingly slacked the chains round Tates, expressing “bewilderment” at the US government’s potential interference in their case. It’s reported they have now left the US but plan to live in Florida permanently at a later stage.
Pinter is far from surprised that they’d be so brash as to cross the pond and return to America, but remains quietly optimistic. “I feel very confident that justice will be served one way or the other,” she tells Cosmopolitan UK, citing the mounds of digital evidence produced by the Tates that is still easily viewable.
“They've been very brazen and public about their crimes. It is unfortunate that they've gotten away with it this long, they seem to get these little wins… But honestly, I have a lot of hope that whether it's in the UK, the US, Romania, they're going to face some accountability.”
As for when exactly, the timeline is still hazy. Initially the brothers sued Jane, citing the Depp v Heard case in their 2023 suit, and Pinter’s team tried to get it dismissed – something a judge rejected.
In response, Jane countersued and the process is now “in this discovery phase, where both sides can ask each other for information, do depositions, that sort of thing,” Pinter explains.
It’s still up in the air as to whether or not things will actually go to trial in the US. “Either side could file a motion for summary judgment and basically get a ruling by the judge based on the facts and law [without a trial]. We’ll see.”
The worrying rise in accusers being sued
This tactic of suing an accuser, a strategy known as DARVO (Deny Attack Reverse Victim and Offender), has been growing since the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial, in which after Depp lost his UK case against a newspaper that labelled him a ‘wifebeater’ he sued his ex-wife after she wrote an op-ed identifying herself as a survivor of sexual violence.
Both lost on some counts, with Depp receiving the bigger payout and seemingly ‘winning’ in the court of public opinion. At least at the time. In 2023, Cosmopolitan UK reported there had been a 5,000% rise in searches around how to sue an accuser for defamation.
“[DARVO] is a tactic that is used a lot more than I had realised. Peter Nygård, the notorious [fashion mogul] sex offender from Canada, actually sued a lot of accusers or threatened to sue them for defamation. That's how he silenced his victims for a long time, it's definitely a growing trend in the States,” says Pinter.
Still, Pinter is resolute in her conviction that the justice system will come through for Jane.
“It was a mistake for them to come here, but I'm glad they did. It made America pay more attention and the Tate brothers can't survive scrutiny, that's the thing,” she continues, confidently.
“They've been spinning a tale while they're far off in Romania and lying about my client, harassing her, and most people didn't even know there was an American victim or that my client was being sued.
“It was hard to get the right attention on that. But now they've made it America's problem and even the most minor investigation will reveal heinous statements by them, admitting to really bad crimes.”
The case for why the Tate brothers are victimising men, too
Pinter believes that the Tates have duped plenty of men along the way, many of whom have devoutly followed their content.
She cites how the brothers have bragged about tricking guys into thinking they’re speaking with an OnlyFans model when in reality they’re talking to another man.
“When they were talking about their webcam business, they spoke about how they've got men selling their houses, going into debt, [calling] these guys suckers.”
Pinter adds, “They even talked about convincing this guy to give a bunch of money to meet up with a girl when they never intended for her to go, then they staged a whole big dramatic fight so the guy would think it was his fault she didn't come.”
“It's the same kind of manipulation [used on the] women. I think if more men understood that they would be outraged. He's making a fool of you, he really is.”
Sadly, Pinter believes Jane and the women already involved in legal action against the brothers may be just the tip of a worrying iceberg with other victims out there – but she’s hopeful that seeing the courage on display might encourage them to consider speaking out too.
“There's nothing the Tates can do to hide anymore,” she says calmly. “I feel like they personally hate me, which is hard, but l believe that what I'm doing is right and nothing can be more fulfilling in life than if you feel like you're really helping people and doing the right think.
“[We’re out to] change society for the better, so that evens out the bad.”
*Name has been changed
You Might Also Like
