new York
CNN
—
Andrew Tate has lined his pockets through right-wing social media.
The 36-year-old former professional kickboxer turned “alpha male” misogynist influencer arrested by Romanian authorities in late December investigating allegations of human trafficking and rape, and signed deals with Rumble and GETTR in 2022 to exclusively broadcast content on them to publish platforms.
These agreements were no secret. As you might imagine, both right-wing social media companies took pride in touting their relationship with Tate, which was banned from YouTube and TikTok. However, what has not been publicly known until now is how lucrative the deals were for the influencer.
Tate has privately boasted that his deal with Rumble, the video-based social media site popular with conservatives and marketing itself as “immune to cultural abandonment,” was worth a staggering $9 million.
CNN could not independently confirm its assessment of the deal. However, when asked for comment, Rumble didn’t dispute the price of the deal and acknowledged in a statement that it has deals with its creators and has “offered inducements” to them. The company also called for a rigorous investigation into Tate for the alleged sex crimes.
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“Rumble strongly condemns human trafficking and sexual abuse, and our platform prohibits pornography and all forms of illegal activity. At the same time, every defendant deserves a due process,” Rumble said Thursday night. “The allegations against Andrew Tate, which appear to have no content from Rumble, should be promptly and thoroughly investigated, and we will not prejudge that investigation.”
It’s not exactly clear how much Tate’s deal with GETTR was worth; The company did not comment on Thursday. Neither does Tate, who remains in detention in Romania, and a representative for him could not be reached for comment.
Deals worth millions are not necessarily unprecedented in right-wing society. Axios reported earlier this month that Donald Trump Jr. had reached a multi-year, seven-figure agreement with Rumble. And other personalities like Russell Brand and Glenn Greenwald have made their own deals with the platform. Rumble, which went public via a SPAC last year, was reportedly valued at over $2 billion and was financially backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.
The distribution agreements underscore how profitable it can be to work as an influencer in right-wing media. And they show how financially rewarding doing business with emerging social media companies can be as they work to attract users to their platforms while competing with far more established tech giants like Twitter and YouTube.
Despite being banned from the vast majority of mainstream social media platforms, Tate remains influential among young men. His tirades, in which he claims that most of society is allegedly locked into “The Matrix,” which he describes as a world ruled by shadowy elites bent on coercing the masses into working for them and Collect millions of views. And he’s garnered a huge following among younger men largely through his comments on male supremacy. Before his TikTok account was banned, he amassed 11.6 billion views.
The deals with Tate seemed to be working out well for both parties. Tate fostered significant engagement on both platforms. For example, Sky News reported in September that Rumble’s daily active users rose 45.3% in the week Tate invaded the platform. And GETTR credited Tate in a press release for helping drive engagement.
CNN was informed that his deal with GETTR ended when he rejoined Twitter in late November after Elon Musk lifted the ban previously imposed on his account. But with Tate facing serious charges in custody, the fate of his lucrative deal with Rumble remains to be seen.
