Incel influencer Andrew Tate is under house arrest in Romania on suspicion of sex trafficking along with his brother, Tristan. They are accused of using isolation and other tactics to coerce victims into making pornographic content. Leaked messages purported to be from their all-male network, the War Room, obtained by Rolling Stone, appear to confirm that the Tates manipulated women into doing sex work for them through lies and coercion.
From Rolling Stone:
In his messages to War Room members, Tate appears to frame this clear lack of consent as both a challenge and a teaching experience for his acolytes. “This is about the maximum difficulty that you experience in the business,” he writes. “If we all agree on that, I’ll give you a play by play of what I try.” He then solicits feedback from other War Room members, asking them what they would do to convince their partner to do sex work for them — “I would try a good cop bad cop ruse,” writes one person. “Act deeply hurt by her refusal. Flip it on her and get her to start feeling guilty or cry” — before Tate says he’ll be “making the play tonight” to get her to cam.
“Since she moved [to Bucharest] she’s been fed. But nothing else,” he writes. “She’s broke. And she can’t go home. And she can’t leave the house. Man, I sound almost evil. But I’m not. I’m a Shephard. Leading the sheep. She doesn’t realize that following me makes life better for her.”
A spokesperson for Tate told Rolling Stone that the woman referred to in the “purported screenshots” “has publicly and categorically refuted any mistreatment from the brothers,” and that the release of the screenshots is part of a smear campaign against the Tates. “While all statements from the alleged victims, incriminating the brothers, have been unquestioningly accepted by the public, the evidence supporting the brothers’ innocence has not been given the same fair treatment,” the spokesperson said.