Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested yesterday, apparently because a friend and fellow online influencer leaked word that Andrew was planning to leave Romania and never return.
According to a legal representative for McCue Law, the firm representing four British women accusing Tate of rape and sexual assault, U.K. judicial authorities issued a warrant for their arrests and extradition on sexual abuse charges after “we were informed by one of our contacts that an associate of Tate (Adin Ross) had discussed Tate’s intention to flee during a video on the gaming & live-streaming platform Kick.”
In the clip viewed by Rolling Stone, Ross appears to be reading direct messages from Tate. “Andrew had hit me up. He said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna be leaving Romania soon and probably never coming back. If you want to come over and do a week of long streams and content before I leave, I think it’ll be big. And it’s never’ — I’m sorry, he said, ‘It’s basically now or never,’” he read…
A highly controversial 23-year-old streamer from Florida, Ross, was permanently banned from Twitch in February 2023 for promoting “hateful conduct” after posting uncensored racist and antisemitic comments from his fans. He has been a longtime defender of the brothers, proclaiming their innocence on social media following their 2022 Romania arrest and detainment on separate charges of rape, trafficking, and forming an organized group to exploit women.
Maybe I’ve heard Adin Ross’s name before but I honestly don’t remember. Anyway, the video comes across different from the transcript because it looks like Ross is reading an actual message he received from Tate.
Did Adin Ross cause Andrew Tate to get locked up?
— X7 Updates (@x7updates) March 12, 2024
So were the Tate brothers planning to flee prosecution in Romania? Their spokesperson says no.
Tate’s spokesperson Mateea Petrescu denied that Tate was planning to flee Romania. Ross didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Our clients are fully committed to actively participating in the legal process and defending their reputation. We believe this rumor has originated from a popular online influencer who misconstrued a text message from our clients while streaming live. There is simply no truth to it,” Petrescu said.
The Tates were released again after a hearing Tuesday. The outcome of all of this is that they will be extradited back to England to face civil claims from four women there, but not until after they face trial in Romania.
Within hours, a judge there Tuesday approved the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate to the United Kingdom, where they face charges of sexual aggression in a case that dates back more than a decade. But the judge said the Tate brothers won’t actually be sent to the U.K. until after they face trial in Romania on separate charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women…
…four of Tate’s alleged victims in the U.K. have set up a crowdfunding site to cover their legal costs in a civil case they are pursuing against him. They had reported Tate to British authorities for alleged sexual violence, but their claims did not advance to prosecution.
“We filed complaints with the authorities for rape and physical abuse in 2014 and 2015 alongside witness testimony and damning documentary evidence. The CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] then decided not to take the matter any further,” their website says. “It’s our one remaining routes to hold him accountable.”
There’s still no word on when the Romanian trial will start or how long it will take so it could be a while before the extradition to the UK happens. In the meantime, if you were one of the people looking forward to the week of Adin Ross/Andrew Tate streaming content, that probably won’t be happening anytime soon either.