On Thursday, Brianna Stern, a Los Angeles model and influencer, accused Andrew Tate of physical and sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court. Even by the standards long set by the avowed misogynist, the complaint offered a harrowing picture of his alleged conduct. Stern claimed that Tate beat her over the course of a 10-month relationship, including during a recent stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where, according to the suit, he beat and choked her until she nearly lost consciousness, leading her to be diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.
Further details of Stern’s suit alleged a pattern of control that put Tate’s online rhetoric into a more concrete reality. The complaint said that Tate asked Stern to get a tattoo reading “Property of Tate,” something he had allegedly required of former girlfriends, and that he once texted her, “What’s the point in having you if I don’t beat you and impregnate you.” Stern said in the suit that she reported the incident to the police, and a criminal investigation is reportedly underway. (Vanity Fair has reached out to the Beverly Hills Police Department for confirmation of the police report and investigation.)
Tate has denied the claims, with his lawyer accusing Stern of seeking “personal gain, notoriety, and financial benefit” through her relationship with Tate. “We implore the public and the media to refrain from premature judgments until all facts are established and to resist the temptation to amplify the self-serving narrative of an individual seemingly more interested in profit than in justice,” Tate’s lawyer added.
The allegations represent the latest installment of the online personality’s return to the fore of American life. For some two years, Tate and his brother, Tristan, who are dual US-UK citizens, had been on and off house arrest in Romania, where they face charges of human trafficking and establishing a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Tate has also been charged with rape, and the brothers deny all allegations against them. While Tate’s reputation never dissipated, it seemed plausible that the extensive recognition of his views and the legal jeopardy in which he had found himself could temper his influence.
Instead, Tate returned to the US in February, shortly after Donald Trump resumed office. The president’s administration reportedly may have played a role in Romanian authorities’ decision to lift a travel ban on Tate and his brother; when asked about the matter at the White House, Trump said he knew nothing about it. Upon landing in Florida, Tate boasted of his relationship with the Trump family, saying he had spoken to the president’s 19-year-old son, Barron, following the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania in July.
Objections to Tate’s reemergence have proliferated even within conservative circles. Florida governor Ron DeSantis said that the brothers weren’t welcome in the state, and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy wrote on X, “What’s the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers?” But the two have been embraced by several key figures in a cultural space—including but not limited to what is now commonly known as the manosphere—where they continue to loom large. Most prominently, UFC CEO Dana White warmly greeted the siblings at a fight, saying, “Welcome to the States, boys.” Tate has recently appeared on podcasts hosted by Fort Lauderdale entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David and the Nelk Boys YouTubers, both of which were among Trump’s campaign stops during his widely studied press run.
Tate is represented by Joseph McBride, a Brooklyn-bred attorney otherwise known for his work on behalf of January 6 rioters. Stern’s lawsuit was filed by Tony Buzbee, the Houston attorney with an extensive public profile that has been amplified in recent months by his representation of many of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s civil accusers. (Combs has denied wrongdoing in connection with the suits; Buzbee dropped a lawsuit that accused both Combs and Jay-Z of rape, which the rappers strenuously denied.) McBride is an active social media presence whose law firm website notes that “the lines between law and media are blurring more than ever.” On Friday, he described Buzbee as “CAPTAIN SAVE A HOE,” appending a screenshot of a Rolling Stone story about an extortion claim brought by Jay-Z against the attorney. (Buzbee has denied the allegation.)
The new Netflix series Adolescence tells the story of a 13-year-old British boy who is arrested for the murder of a female classmate after falling into the online ecosystem built in Tate’s image. The show has broken several viewership records while illustrating, in bracing fashion, warnings issued by educators and law enforcement officials in recent years. In a statement on social media on Thursday, Stern acknowledged the same reality.
“I know he and his followers will insult me and attack me,” she wrote. “I don’t care because I speak the truth.”
