In today’s society, where almost anyone can become someone overnight, instant stardom can positively or negatively influence kids and teens. With the new internet personality Andrew Tate, it is nothing short of controversial. Emory Andrew Tate the Third was born on December 1, 1986, in Washington, D.C., making him 37 years old. He didn’t have a substantial online presence until 2016, when he appeared on the British reality show Big Brother. However, that didn’t last long, as Tate received backlash and was kicked off of the show for making racist and homophobic comments on X, formerly known as Twitter, along with a leaked video of him striking a woman with a belt. This was only the beginning of his misogynistic run that is still ensuing to this day. 

Andrew Tate is currently banned on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, but he is still making content on Rumble, a video-sharing platform similar to YouTube. Although that is the only place he is uploading content, his bigoted clips are on every video-sharing platform from other people uploading them, and most likely teenage boys. Tate has a global and strong grip on teenage boys’ mindsets because of his content being displayed on places like the “For You Page” on TikTok, where his clips from his podcast, live streams, interviews, etc., are being viewed by boys and all kids alike that are at least 13 given TikTok’s age rule. Even though it is as easy as saying you are old enough to make an account, with that in mind, anyone with a device can see this content. 

The number of clips everywhere on TikTok was so ubiquitous that the hashtag “#AndrewTate” was searched 22 billion times. That means that not only were people being fed Tate videos on their suggested page, they were going out of their way to watch him. They had fallen fond of his cigars, machetes, diamond watches, luxury cars, and piles of cash. One of the many viral clips is of Tate on a private jet, and he claims eating rice “will make you men weak” and makes derogatory statements about how eating sushi is for effeminate boys and democrats.

In another where he describes what he would do as a pimp if a woman accused him of cheating, to which he said very inflammatory remarks about women unsuitable for a high school publication. These statements made by him are way over the line of any joke and are very one-sided; whatever he says, he makes it seem like that is the only solution, and the other option, if any, is just an insult, like when he rants about sushi. 

His removal from TikTok in August was no surprise after he continued saying things like he prefers 18 and 19-year-old women because they have been through fewer men, comparing women to dogs, saying women shouldn’t be allowed to drive,  and even seemed to endorse sexual slavery. Saying that a woman in a relationship “belongs” to the man, “and the intimate parts of her body belong to him” on the Dave Portnoy podcast. 

However, all of this was to no avail because, by the end of August, Andrew Tate had been googled more than Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, and the Queen of England combined. This means that even though he was banned from TikTok earlier that month, he still managed to be the most Googled person that month, showing Tate was a bigger problem than making content on TikTok. 

Tate and his brother were detained in December 2022 near Bucharest, Romania, where they lived in a villa. They were placed in jail as authorities investigated them for suspicion of organized crime, human trafficking, and rape. They were later put on house arrest while the investigation continued. Still, in January 2023, prosecutors said they had seized 15 luxury vehicles and more than 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects to prevent the assets from being sold or hidden. Along with fourteen designer watches, two ingots of usually precious metal and cash were also confiscated, with authorities saying the seized property was worth around  €3.6 million, almost $4 million. 

This is important to note because he could use that money to pay off victims or people of the court, police, etc. After Tate won an appeal in August of 2023, he was released from house arrest and is currently waiting for a trial date. This means he can now travel anywhere in Romania but cannot go abroad. As well as rape and human trafficking charges, Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, are being accused of using a technique called the “lover boy method” on seven different women. They would promise a relationship or marriage but never act on those statements.

Another way Tate targeted teenage boys was his online “school,” Hustlers University, in 2021. This site is where men and boys as young as 13 pay $50 monthly to learn skills to help them “escape the matrix.” It was later changed to The Real World in 2022 and is still running. The courses include crypto investing, drop-shipping, copywriting, freelancing, and personal finance. Professors at The Real World “motivate” their students by calling them losers and making them do pushups while paying their monthly subscription fee.

With The Real World’s marketing course, comparable to a pyramid scheme, students learn how to edit and repost clips of Tate on social media with an affiliate link. Each time a new student subscribes to The Real World, the poster of the link the new student used gets half the first month’s commission, $25. By July 2022, he had 77,000 members, showing Andrew Tate wasn’t going anywhere soon. 

The Real World has over 280,000 students as of January 1, 2024. That means he could be profiting up to $1,400,000 monthly with his current number of students, which will only grow with every new student. 

To understand how Andrew Tate’s influence might be affecting students at MCHS, The Madisonian asked students and teachers what they think about Tate.

“From what I’ve experienced, Andrew Tate became viral for his extreme sexism to (sic) women. I first saw him on TikTok surprisingly enough. His outrageous and offensive takes towards women and their rights made his videos go instantly viral,” said MCHS English and coach Adam Stotts. “Despite the offensiveness, it seemed to spread to a lot of the younger male audience. I have talked to middle school teachers who have stated in the past they had their 7th and 8th-grade students referencing things Tate would put on his videos, calling themselves “Top G” or things such as that.” 

One 11th-grade junior female student said, “I think it’s good that he is trying to push masculinity, but he is doing it in a toxic way that is not good for boys to follow.”

MCHS senior Allie Rector stated, “I think Andrew Tate is a horrible person who has no morals, and he needs to be put in a mental hospital.”

A senior male at MCHS stated, “I feel like a lot of people hate on Andrew Tate because of what he is doing as a person and to other men’s mindsets; he pushes out content and wants men to be masculine and strong and embraces that through himself and the way he trains and takes action. I think he definitely has some good content to be a better you, but some people are just cowards and shy away or think things should be different.” 

Another MCHS male said, “I agree with what he says regarding work ethic and needing to be the best at what you do and whatnot, but I can’t really get behind him saying all the stuff about categorizing women.”

The MCHS student opinions prove Tate’s controversial influence, and he wraps a message of hard work and grinding culture with a side of misogynism. Unfortunately, Tate’s influence likely does not stop at high school students but extends to any child viewing TikTok . It would be a good idea for parents to be aware of the influence that Tate and social media could have on students of all grade levels.