I escaped the manosphere – the arrest of the Tate brothers won’t end the dark lure of toxic masculinity and here’s why

THE charges faced by Andrew Tate could hardly be more serious – multiple rapes, sex trafficking and possessing indecent images of children. In total, police in Britain have accused the influencer and his younger brother Tristan of 59 offences, with the authorities in Romania also investigating the pair for organised crime. Andrew Tate (L) and his brother Tristan Tate (R) in Romania in 2023 Credit: EPA James Blake escaped the manosphere Credit: Supplied Yet, after their arrest in Miami at the weekend, their devoted followers continue to praise the brothers who grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire. Most of the discussion on social media was about the silk purple shirt and penny loafers Andrew, 39, was wearing as federal agents handcuffed him in the bright Florida sunshine. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! It is nearly four years since the duo were first arrested in Romania on sex trafficking allegations. Rather than curtailing the two men, it only seems to have boosted the profile of the Tates, who continue to promote their alpha male brand with a depressing swagger. Andrew was due to host a bareknuckle boxing event when he was nabbed in Miami and last year lost a lucrative Misfits boxing match. He posts clips of himself on private jets, with fast cars and girls and snarls: “Put us in jail, we don’t care.” A couple of weeks ago, Tristan, 38, used a racist term during a long rant on their Tate Speech videocast, saying “I am innocent. I am not scared of these n******”. All this bravado is lapped up by the so-called manosphere. Most read in The Sun The vital message delivered by the award-winning Adolescence Netflix series- deaths of women at the hands of brainwashed young men and constant warnings that dangerous sexual activities such as strangulation have become normalised- has done little to dent this cult-like movement. As Louis Theroux’s recent documentary about the manosphere revealed, there are plenty of other influencers jostling for attention. One man who was lured in by the Tates’ messages, but came out the other side, tells The Sun we need to tackle the problems facing teenage men to prevent them spreading. James Blake, who made the BBC documentary Men of the Manosphere, says: “If you’re a 15 or 16-year-old boy repeatedly seeing content telling you that men are the problem or that you’re somehow less valuable because of your sex, it’s understandable that some will seek out communities that make them feel seen and validated instead. “That doesn’t excuse misogyny or harmful rhetoric, but if we genuinely want to reduce the influence of extreme voices, we have to ask why so many young men feel they need to look elsewhere for that sense of belonging in the first place. “Tackling only the symptoms without addressing those underlying issues won’t solve the problem.” The Tates’ central idea that if you want to have sex you need to project wealth certainly seems to have taken hold. Last autumn a YouGov poll revealed that almost a third of Millennial men believe that women only want to date males of a “high social status.” Andrew Tate flaunts his wealth Credit: Refer to Caption Andrew Tate with his ex-girlfriend Brianna Stern Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk The manosphere was built on sex. Many of the alpha males in this online world started as pick-up artists, offering to show other males how to attract women. The Tates charged for courses which taught members “how to obtain and retain unlimited beautiful women.” And a key member of his organisation, an American called Miles Sonkin, claimed in the 1990s to be the “world’s greatest pick-up artist”. It was in May of 2014 that the public started to become aware of the manosphere, a malevolent force that had been gaining traction in the darker recesses of the internet. London-born Elliot Rodger, 22, murdered six people and injured 14 others in a mass shooting in California, where he had lived since the age of five. Rodger, who shot himself after the killing spree, was a frustrated pick-up artist spreading hatred of the opposite sex. He wanted “a world where women fear you.” Similar attacks have followed, including 22–year–old incel Jake Davison, who shot five people dead in Plymouth before taking his own life in 2021. Andrew Tate on a private jet Credit: instagram Police remove a sports car from the Tate compound in Romania in 2023 Credit: AP Andrew Tate has denied being part of the manosphere. Instead, he claims to promote the idea of strong, independent men. In the early 2020s, following a break-up with his girlfriend, James shared some of Tate’s social media messages. James recalls: “Like many people, I first came across Andrew Tate through short-form clips on Instagram and other social media. “My initial impression was that he mixed conventional self-improvement advice, discipline, fitness, confidence and ambition. “The content over time, however, became more polarising and more relationship-focused. I could understand why some young men found parts of the messaging appealing, even if I disagreed with other aspects of it.” Having left that world, James made a documentary last year about the manosphere, in which he interviewed men drawn to an anti-women agenda. He continues: “What interested me during the process of making my BBC documentary, Men of the Manosphere, wasn’t simply Andrew Tate or other individuals themselves, but understanding why so many young men were receptive to that message in the first place. “Loneliness, a lack of positive role models, struggles with dating, uncertainty about masculinity and a desire for purpose all played a role. “The content made by influencers from both genders and sometimes the media which portrays all men as bad or not good enough, doesn’t help.” Tate, who was also a kickboxer and ran a webcam business, moved to Romania in 2015, where the brothers have a compound with a fleet of flash cars. Both Andrew and Tristan have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Following their arrest this weekend, their lawyer Joseph McBride put out a statement claiming the charges were “a political hit ordered by a dying empire.” The brothers are being held in custody and will fight attempts to have them extradited from the US to the UK. Tristan says he has told prosecutors in Romania that they shouldn’t take all his previous statements about his sexual behaviour seriously. Before his most recent arrest, Tristan told followers in a video that “I am playing a character, relax, this is a joke”. Andrew Tate lost a recent boxing match against Chase DeMoor Credit: Instagram The Sun reports on the Tate brothers’ arrest in Miami at the weekend Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Online, the pair still have plenty of support from people who believe they have taken a “red pill” – a reference to the sci-fi film The Matrix – which makes them aware of a conspiracy. James explains: “From what I observe, some people think the arrest of Andrew Tate is a ‘Matrix Attack’ or some kind of attack from a deep ‘system that controls us.’ “Others simply believe he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Equally, many former supporters have distanced themselves following the allegations.” There is some evidence that the influence of the Tates might be waning. In 2023, 27 per cent of 18- 29-year-old men had a favourable view of Andrew Tate. Three years later, only 13 per cent of Generation Z, which is that age group, felt the same. But if anyone thinks that signals the beginning of the end of what many regard as toxic masculinity, they’d be mistaken. Privately educated Essex-born Harrison Sullivan built up a major following by saying outrageous things on social media. Operating under the name HSTikkytokky, he said: “Call me racist, call me a misogynist, call me homophobic, call me a scammer – I’m all those things.” Sullivan was the main subject of Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere documentary for Netflix earlier this year. But James believes the success of the toxic influencers is a symptom and not the cause. James concludes: “There will always be more creators. Too much of the conversation focuses on individual influencers and not enough on why millions of young men around the world are looking for them in the first place.”