Controversial past of Andrew Tate that led to him being censored from social networks
Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania after alleged involvement in human trafficking and rape.
But prior to his arrest yesterday (29 December), he was already one of the internet's most controversial men because of his sexist and misogynistic views. He appeared to predict his arrest just weeks ago:
Tate, now 36, first rose to fame as a kickboxer and by 2008, the British-American was the 7th best light-heavyweight kickboxer in Britain.
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He earned his first championship a year later, and by then, he was the leading man in his European division.
The sportsman continued to have success until his eventual retirement in 2016, and it was shortly after that his career as a media personality began.
This resulted in widespread controversy when he found himself kicked out of the UK Big Brother house that year due to a video being released showing him hitting a woman with a belt, which she later attested was part of a BDSM act.
Reports also surfaced of homophobic and racist tweets being discovered on his account at the time.
The controversy kept coming in 2017 when he said that depression 'isn't real' on Twitter.
He then shared his views on the #MeToo movement, where he claimed that rape victims should 'bear some responsibility' for what they have suffered.
These views continued until Tate eventually found himself banned from Twitter later in 2017.
Despite this, his profile kept growing and he associated himself with a number of controversial figures, including anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - a man he said was a 'solid guy'.
But while Tate's controversial views were well-known, it wasn't until the rise of TikTok that he became an international hate figure.
This saw more people become aware of his webcam business, where he claimed to manage online adult entertainers' content - some of whom were his girlfriends.
While webcam modelling is legal, Tate and his brother admitted that they would encourage women to tell their clients 'fake sob stories' to increase their earnings, the Mirror reported, and admitted it was a 'scam'.
TikTok also drew attention to Tate's website, where he shared misogynistic videos on 'male-female interactions' and how to make money.
The latter was linked to his Hustlers University, where Tate claimed that - for a fee - he would teach people the skills they needed to become a multi-millionaire like him.
While Tate was eventually banned from TikTok earlier this year, where he also circulated views like women 'belong in the home', his content was still shared by fan accounts.
He was also banned from Facebook and Instagram for similar reasons.
But he returned to social media a few weeks ago after Twitter was bought by Elon Musk, who decided to revoke his ban.
This is what led to his 29 December arrest following an online spat with Greta Thunberg, where he appeared to accidentally reveal his location with pizza boxes from a Romanian chain.
The media personality - who also admitted to preferring to have sex with younger women because they have had fewer sexual partners - was questioned over alleged criminal activity back in April.
This was also because of human trafficking claims.
While two women found in Tate's home at the time claimed to have been held against their will, he and his brother Tristan, who is also accused, were released without arrest, according to Aljazeera.
But the situation now appears to be more serious.
As reported by the Romanian publication Libertatea, Tate is currently in custody for 24 hours alongside Tristan and two Romanian suspects.
A spokesperson released the following statement to the MailOnline: "We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can."
Emma Guinness