At least one of the women who have accused Andrew Tate of trafficking has been threatened by legal action from Tate.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate have been detained in a Romanian jail since December as authorities look into rape and human trafficking allegations. Also, it has been discovered that former kickboxer Tate had threatened to sue the woman and her family for defamation in response to some of the allegations made.
US attorneys representing the lady have revealed she got a “cease and desist” letter in December, the same month Tate was arrested near Bucharest. She received it from a law firm acting on behalf of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.
According to BBC, the letter threatens to sue the accuser and her parents for $300 million (£249 million) for defamation. However, Tate continues to deny all the allegations made against him.
According to a redacted copy of the letter obtained by the BBC, “In April 2022 you falsely stated to a third party that our Client human trafficked you, abused you and held you against your will. You have repeated false and defamatory statements to the police, the media, and another United States citizen about the Tate brothers.”
Benjamin Bull is a lawyer for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and represents several of the witnesses in the investigation. He said to the BBC that the letter from Tate’s legal team was meant to “shut down” the woman.
Bull stated: “They want these young ladies to climb into a hole and hide, never come forward [or] describe what they saw and what happened to them. It’s clearly an effort to intimidate.”
The legitimacy of the letter has been verified by Tates’ attorneys. However, they have denied the attempt to use the defamation threat as an intimidation technique.
Tina Glandian is an advisor representing the brothers. She stated: “The fact that [the Tates] are incarcerated right now is not a basis for them not to pursue their legal rights.”