Andrew Tate: controversial influencer says he will be 'found innocent’ over trafficking charges

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has said that he is "utterly sure" he will be "found innocent" of trafficking and organised crime allegations he is currently under investigation for in Romania.

Tate, 36, made the statement during an interview with the BBC, the first media interview he has conducted since being detained in December 2022. Both he and his brother, Tristan, were arrested alongside two other women by authorities on suspicion of human trafficking and forming an organised crime group, with allegations that the four had coerced victims into creating paid-for pornography for social media.

He told the BBC that he is "absolutely and utterly sure" that both he and his brother will be found innocent of the allegations. Tate said: “We have an open criminal investigation, I am absolutely and utterly sure I’ll be found innocent.

“I know the case better than you, I know it intimately and you don’t, I have seen all the criminal files and the evidence against me and you haven’t, I know the truth of what happened and you don’t. And I’m telling you absolutely and utterly, I’ve never hurt anybody, that the case that’s been put against me is completely and utterly fabricated and I’m never gonna be found guilty of anything.”

Tate, his brother and the two women were being held by Romanian authorities in detention until March 2023, when they were released into house arrest. The group have not been formally charged or indicted, with Romanian prosecutors stating that they have until late June to send the case to the court.

In the same interview, Tate - who has caused controversy online for his views on masculinity and women - was questioned about his influence over young men on the internet. A recent survey showed that 24% of young British men agreed with his self-confessed misogynistic views.

The National Education Union (NEU) held its annual conference in April 2023, with views being heard that misogyny was rising in schools in part due to Tate's influence on young boys. In response to these claims, he said: “That’s very upsetting and the reason that’s very upsetting is because I know that’s not true, I’m genuinely a good person. I believe my impact on the world is positive.”

Tate defended his online actions, saying: “I preach hard work, discipline, I’m an athlete, I preach anti-drug, I preach religion, I preach no alcohol, I preach no knife crime, every single problem with modern society I’m against. I’m teaching young men to be disciplined, to be diligent, to listen, to train, to work hard, to be exactly like me.

He added: "I’m saying that if men grew up like me which are hardworking and diligent, with emotional control and stoic, we’re gonna have a better society, not a worse society. To sit here and say that schools in England, which is a failing nation, which has knife crime going through the roof, violence going through the roof, men’s mental health going through the roof, and they’re going to all blame me because I appeared on the internet is disingenuous.”