Andrew Tate, Alleged Rapist, Says He Wants to Start ‘Charity’ for ‘Falsely Accused’ Men

Andrew Tate is in Romanian jail until at least the end of February as authorities investigate human trafficking allegations against him, but the misogynist influencer is still, somehow, tweeting. On Sunday, he said, “I updated my will from prison. I will be donating 100 million to start a charity to protect men from false accusations.” He curiously added the caveat that this change in his will comes despite that he “would never kill myself.”

Insider noted that the tweets are possibly being sent by a member of Tate’s team, or that he still has his phone in jail, even as he’s claimed that he’s being held in miserable conditions among cockroaches and bed bugs. In any case, however he is (or isn’t) managing to tweet, defending men who allegedly harm women is clearly very personal to him: He’s facing criminal charges for forcing dozens of women to make pornographic videos against their will so he can profit off them, and has been accused by multiple women of rape. His promise of $100 million (which he may or may not actually have) all but encourages his followers to perpetrate violence against women and rest easy knowing he has their back.

This latest undertaking by Tate is about as tired and uncreative as all his previous projects: Men have been harping on about the statistically super rare phenomenon of being falsely accused of violence for probably all of history. (Of course, men who sincerely cared about their gender’s well-being and safety could engage with the statistically more common issue of domestic violence targeting men, rather than supposedly endemic false allegations.)

However much outrage men’s rights activists like Tate might drum up about the myth of widespread false accusations, it is unfounded. At least one report analyzing police data through the decades suggests that the often-cited 8 percent statistic for “falsely reported” rapes is inaccurately high. (To get to this statistic, the FBI classified as “false” rapes that didn’t involve a weapon, and rapes that were perpetrated by someone the victim shared a relationship with.) Further, one survey found that, in nearly a quarter of incidents in which women call 911 to report intimate partner violence, they were arrested or threatened with arrest themselves. If anything, it’s clear local police departments are over-reporting “false” rape reports thanks to ongoing, victim-blaming rape myths.

Meanwhile, Tate’s pitch for a “charity” to help the supposedly huge swatch of men falsely accused will probably never actually come to fruition—but will surely further endear him to the droves of straight men and boys who see Tate as their savior. Many have paid him $50 (or more!) to “attend” his Hustlers University to learn how to be scammers and abusive. They’ve so bought into his self-propaganda that they believe his arrest is a conspiracy akin to the “matrix.” As Jezebel reported last year, Tate’s viral misogyny has reached boys as young as elementary school.

Since Tate’s arrest in December, several reports have detailed new allegations of rape and violence against women perpetrated by Tate. Vice reported in January that Tate was investigated by British police in 2015 after being accused of rape by two women and beatings and assaults by another. Vice also published audio and text messages in which Tate told one woman, “I love raping you.”

Tate has denied all of these charges, including the human trafficking ones he faces in Romania. But the business model he describes on his website amounts to human trafficking, and in his viral videos, he proudly endorses and gives tips on committing violence against women. His bodyguard told the BBC last month that all of the women Tate allegedly trafficked were simply “young and stupid.” It’s always been clear what kind of person Tate is—and now, apparently, what kind of people he’ll spend $100 million to defend.