Did you hear that? It’s the sound of a million girls around the globe letting out a collective sigh of relief as it has been announced that polarizing Internet personality Andrew Tate and his younger brother, Tristan, have just been detained by Romanian authorities on Thursday. The controversial ex-kickboxer and his brother were arrested following a raid on their luxury villa in the capital, Bucharest, along with two other suspects, on charges of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime group, authorities confirmed.
Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) issued a statement, stating that two British citizens and two Romanian citizens were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking, though he did not name the Tate brothers.
It also released a video of the raid, showing guns, knives, and money on display in one room.
The Tate brothers have been under investigation since last April. A spokesperson for them said that he could not provide any details about the report “however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can.”
The arrest comes just days after the re-platformed British national was slammed by climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter after he told her he owned 33 cars with “enormous emissions.” In response, the 19-year-old wrote “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalld**kenergy@getalife.com.”
This prompted the self-proclaimed misogynist to upload a video response to Thunberg, which featured a box of Jerry’s Pizza that inadvertently tipped off Romanian authorities of his presence in the Eastern European country. According to reports, the local pizza chain appearing in the video was used as proof that he was in Romania, as it was believed he had moved to the UAE, leading to the arrest of him and his brother in the human trafficking probe. Ironically, according to QAnon and members of anonymous message board 4Chan, “pizza” is a code word for criminal activity, particulary child trafficking. The “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, gaining popularity among alt-right forums and ultimately leading a gunman to attempt to conduct a shooting on a pizzeria identified by online conspiracy theorists.
Romanian authorities needed proof that Andrew Tate was in the country so they reportedly used his social media posts. His ridiculous video yesterday featured a pizza from a Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, confirming he was in the country.
This is absolutely epic. pic.twitter.com/kyz4pqegkJ
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) December 29, 2022
The news comes just a number of days after Canadian rapper Tory Lanez was found guilty of all charges related to the 2020 shooting of Houston hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion. Along with Tate’s arrest, we think it’s safe to say that December has been a huge win for women worldwide.