Why are the Tate brothers heading to the US?

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are travelling to the US after leaving Romania, where they face charges of rape, trafficking minors and money laundering, all of which they deny.

Questions remain about why they were allowed to travel and what happens next with their legal cases.

Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, are dual US-UK citizens who claim to have made millions from their social media empire.

Their online output was controversial even before their legal troubles, with the pair attracting frequent criticism over offensive statements about women.

The pair have an American father who worked for the US Air Force in Britain. Their parents met in the UK before moving to the US.

After their parents divorced, their mother moved to Luton, England. The brothers spent time in the UK, where they built their early careers.

Police in the UK have linked Andrew Tate to the “quite terrifying” radicalisation of boys and young men in a 2024 report into violence against women and girls.

The brothers were first arrested in Romania in 2022. They are facing separate, unrelated charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK. Both brothers also deny the charges against them in the UK.

The brothers had been under a travel ban in Romania for more than two years while they were under investigation.

Speculation that they would leave Romania had been mounting ahead of their journey, after the pair went quiet on social media.

They left from a Bucharest airport at around 03:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on a private jet bound for Florida, sources have told the BBC.

Prosecutors said the travel ban had been lifted, and the pair’s US passports had been returned to them, but investigations into their alleged crimes have not been dropped and they are expected to return to Romania.

The Tates have a large US following and are popular figures among some elements of the American right.

Earlier in February, some of Andrew Tate’s alleged victims said they were “extremely concerned” by reports that US officials had asked for his travel restrictions to be relaxed.

It came after US special envoy Richard Grenell raised the Tate brothers with Romania’s Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference.

Hurezeanu said he had not considered Grenell’s approach as a “form of pressure”. Grenell told the Financial Times his support for the brothers was evident.

The Tates have been vocal supporters of US President Donald Trump, while his close adviser, Elon Musk, restored Andrew Tate’s account on X after he bought the social media platform in 2022.

Andrew and Tristan Tate have not yet commented on their trip to the US, and neither has the Trump administration.

The cases against the Tate brothers in Romania are now being rewritten by prosecutors, who allowed them to leave the country on the condition that they return – possibly as early as the end of March.

The pair’s request to leave the country was accepted, prosecutors said, but their request for the charges against them to be dropped was rejected.

The brothers face a number of civil and criminal legal cases.

The pair were charged with human trafficking and rape along with two Romanian female suspects in June 2023. They deny the charges.

They face separate, unrelated charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK. Last year, a Romanian court ruled they could be extradited to the UK after their case in Romania concludes.

Separately, lawyers for four women who claim they were assaulted by the Tates said they were bringing a civil case against him at the High Court in the UK for “damages for injuries they suffered as a result”.

A representative for the Tate brothers said in response that they “unequivocally deny all allegations”.

A separate civil case in the UK, which the brothers are contesting, accuses the brothers and a third individual of being serial tax evaders.

Four women who allege they were sexually abused by Andrew Tate have said they are in “disbelief and feel re-traumatised” by news of him leaving Romania.

In a joint statement, the four said: “It is clear that he will now not face criminal prosecution for his alleged crimes in Romania; he will use it as an opportunity to harass further and intimidate witnesses and his accusers, and he will continue to spread his violent, misogynistic doctrine around the world.”

They also urged British authorities to “finally take action, do something about this terrifying unfolding situation and ensure he faces justice in the UK”.

Matthew Jury, a lawyer representing the four alleged victims, told the BBC the Trump administration was “interfering in due process” in Romania and the UK.

He added he didn’t think the Tate brothers would “ever face justice in Romania now”.