Was Andrew Tate Arrested Because Of A Jerry's Pizza Box?
The following article includes allegations of sexual assault and human trafficking.
Many of you have likely seen clips circulating around the internet of Andrew Tate. He's a British-American former kickboxer whose content largely centers around his extravagant lifestyle and misogynistic views, per The Guardian. His videos feature misogynistic stereotypes and graphic descriptions of violence against women.
As of August 2022, videos of Tate on TikTok had amassed over 1.6 billion views, though NPR tells us that he was banned from the platform, as well as Facebook and Instagram, at around the same time — he had 4.7 million followers on the latter platform. He was also removed from Twitter in 2017 after he tweeted that victims of sexual assault are partially responsible for the crimes committed against them, though he was recently reinstated to the platform by Elon Musk (via Rolling Stone).
The controversial figure was recently taken into custody in Romania, and the events that surrounded his arrest are strange, to say the least. Even Tate's most repugnant comments pale in comparison to the crimes of which he is now accused.
The timing was right, but Twitter speculation wasn't quite correct
On December 27, Andrew Tate engaged in a back-and-forth Twitter argument with climate activist Greta Thunberg. When he initiated the exchange, Tate boasted about his massive collection of luxury vehicles, taunting the climate activist by flaunting his car's "enormous emissions." When Thunberg insulted Tate in her response, he decided to tweet a response video ... a whole 10 hours later. In the video, a cigar-smoking Tate, clad in a robe, receives an order of Jerry's Pizza, which comes in a box with a rather distinctive name and logo.
Notably, Jerry's Pizza is a Romanian pizza chain, and many Twitter users, including a prominent civil rights attorney, were quick to question whether the box's appearance in the video confirmed to Romanian authorities that Tate was in the country. Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism had been investigating Tate, his brother, and two unnamed Romanian suspects for months, and he was detained by police within 24 hours of the video appearing on his Twitter feed. However, according to Reuters, government agents denied that Tate's arrest had anything to do with the boxes from Jerry's Pizza.
According to CNN, Tate is accused of rape and human trafficking. More specifically, Romanian prosecutors are accusing Tate and the other suspects of operating "an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing, and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you believe you may have information about a trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free hotline at 1-888-373-7888