Today in 'Bye, Bitch': Andrew Tate Has Been Indicted

By Chris Revelle | News | June 20, 2023 |

By Chris Revelle | News | June 20, 2023 |

Pride 2023 has been wild, hasn’t it? First, we see ‘Pride Demon’ speed-run the conservative-meme-to-queer-tee pipeline with a quickness. Next, the I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-Wattpad disaster The Idol premiered to show us soggy hetero fantasies to laugh at. Then, noted hurricane expert and discarded Statler muppet prototype Pat Robertson died! And now, sentient thumb and sexual assailant Andrew Tate has been indicted with rape and human trafficking! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

It’s, of course, not only the LGBTQ+ community that has cause to celebrate here; when someone who treats others this badly and induces others to do the same is taken down, we all win. Dancing on Tate’s proverbial grave is good wholesome fun for the whole family! Tate, his brother Tristian, and two unnamed associates believed to be Romanian citizens are charged with rape and human trafficking as well as organizing a criminal gang. There are other charges still under investigation, including money laundering and trafficking minors, that could result in future indictments. Given how often Tate bragged about his power over women he employed and how violently he would wield it, it feels only too right that he’d brag himself into Romanian prison.

Tate rose to prominence last year — as if he were a candidate running for the office of Chief Misogynist — on the back of YouTube and TikTok’s algorithms, which can and will reliably tee up a rabbit hole of radicalism and hate. On those and just about every other social media platform, Tate churned out bald-faced sexist content that occasionally folded in some flaccid attempts at comedy about seltzer water. He also sold scam “classes” in the classic influencer mold of paying a comical number of hundreds of dollars to “learn” how to be a master of the grind or whatever. He ran sex cam businesses in which he allegedly abused his employees and bragged about it all on every Manosphere podcast that would have him. Tate solidified a persona as an alpha wolf who wore his sunglasses inside, and his level of success is a dire warning to us about how vulnerable people are to his hateful message. He is cheap, sleazy, and laughable, but the damage he’s done and can still do is very real. His Twitter was reinstated under Elon Musk’s regime, which fits very well with Musk’s NuParler act.

People may point to the speed of his rise and reach as some kind of sign that he’s right or that there is a place in ~*the discourse*~ for his perspective. These people are wrong. Tate’s swift prominence says much more about our cultural vulnerability to snake-oil salesmen who peddle get-[blank]-quick schemes and about our credulous reception of bigotry, especially misogyny. Let’s celebrate this monster getting one step closer to justice and reflect on how we can avoid future Andrew Tates. Tate has shown us that you need to be neither charming nor funny nor smart to be a hateful voice so effective that you go from “who?” to a 7th-grader’s favorite creator.

To close this call to celebrating Tate’s continued downfall, check out D’Angelo Wallace’s wonderful summary of the events. Aside from being a thoughtful commentator, Wallace was also a popular target online for Tate’s stans and acolytes, so let’s share in the vindication.

Chris Revelle shouts into the media void with his pals on Why Did We Watch This?