Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on September 19th, 2023. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed.

Andrew Tate is a self-proclaimed sexist and disgraced social media influencer currently facing criminal charges in Romania. He currently has 7.8 million followers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and had billions of views on TikTok. Tate and his brother face charges of organized crime, human trafficking, and rape, but his young fans continue to support and buy into his brand of toxic masculinity. So what does Andrew Tate’s appeal in Romania say about where the phenomenon could lead next?

In this episode:

• Radu Stochita (@stochita_radu), Journalist

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Amy Walters and Sarí el-Khalili. The original production team was Sonia Bhagat with Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin, and our host, Malika Bilal.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad and Vienna Maglio. Aya Elmileik is lead of audience engagement. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

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