The rape charges the Tate brothers face are real. Their image as rich alpha playboys is not. They have admitted in a court filing that their ‘toys’ – luxury cars, a $50 million super yacht, et al – were either rented or lent to them for promotion. The Tates’ confession of duplicity is a play to get out of the Miami lockup where they have been detained while awaiting a judge’s decision on their extradition to the UK
The issue is whether they are rich enough to be a flight risk. The brothers spent years boasting of imaginary jet-set wealth. But that fabrication is now inconvenient. So they have been forced into the humiliating admission that their public personas were self-serving fantasies
The Guardian reported the circumstances thus:
Andrew Tate rented supercars and borrowed a yacht to appear “uberwealthy” and generate online engagement, his lawyer has said
Legal representatives for the self-described misogynist social media influencer and his brother, Tristan Tate, have claimed the pair deliberately portray themselves as far wealthierthan they are because their “business model depends on online attention”
In a court filing, the lawyers write: “Andrew and Tristan are social media personalities. Their business model depends on online attention. The outrageousness of the posts by them and about them is the point. The more hyperbolic and outlandish the post, the more likely it will generate views and likes, which in turn generates income. In short, they are playing a role.”
The filing gave examples of their role-playing. In one case, “A promotional video filmed aboard a yacht is not evidence of title to the yacht. The ‘superyacht’ does not belong to the Tates. They received payment to promote the ship on social media.” In another, “The $2.1m Aston Martin and $5m and $7m Bugattis featured in Tristan’s videos were rented. The valuation of Andrew’s watch collection is based on a third-party enthusiast publication.”
The lawyers explained that this duplicity was central to their business model. “Further, the Tates are engaged in several businesses ‘teaching’ men how to earn money. It is in their interest to portray themselves on social media as uberwealthy.”
The Tate Bros were running a get-rich-quick scheme in which only the Tates were getting rich quickly. Although, according to their lawyer, much of that wealth was an illusion
They didn’t just lie about money. The filing also refers to a “so-called Mexican ‘passport’ bearing the name ‘Vladimir Scorpius’”. The submission said the passport was nothing more than a “cardboard prop Tristan used for a Halloween costume”.Adding, “No one can seriously suggest that Tristan adopted a covert identity, with the purpose of evading international law enforcement, under the name of a famous fictional supervillain.”
Sadly, many people have shown they will believe even the most extraordinary claims, no matter how flimsy
In addition, the lawyers called claims by Andrew that he would one day be PM of the UK “hyperbole.” The same characterization they gave to his claim that his tweets generate nine-figure sums
In addition to their American lawyers, the Tates will need British barristers to defend them against the 58 rape and sex trafficking charges they face in the UK. Charges they will likely have to answer as the Trump administration said Trump has finally found a crook he won’t give an assist to. Although that could change. The Tates were a significant part of the manosphere that enabled his 2024 win
And Trump’s kiss-and-make-up with his former estranged fixer, Michael Cohen, shows that the man is perfectly capable of changing his position on people who have abetted him
