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Four alleged survivors of sexual abuse by Andrew Tate have complained to the press regulator about an interview with the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer and his brother in the Spectator magazine.
The women, who have filed a high court claim accusing Tate of rape, coercive control and assault and battery, claim that the article, written by the deputy editor, Freddy Gray, is inaccurate and misleading.
They describe themselves as being “disgusted” by the piece, in which Gray writes that he believes the criminal cases against the brothers will “melt away”.
The women’s lawyer has accused the magazine, edited by the former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove, of glamorising the brothers, who deny the civil and criminal claims made against them.
The women said in a statement: “We are disgusted by this Spectator interview with Andrew Tate and his brother. These are men who UK authorities have authorised 21 charges against for alleged crimes including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
“How can the Spectator think it’s appropriate to interview these men but fail to ask them one question about the allegations against them?”
Gray, a former literary editor of the American Conservative and deputy editor of the Catholic Herald, travelled to Bucharest to interview the Tate brothers.
He writes: “To the BBC and bourgeois parents everywhere, they are infamous: the vilest beasts of the manosphere, monetisers of misogyny and leading purveyors of far-right hate. Are the Tates really that bad, though?”
Gray goes on: “They still face a number of criminal charges, their homes have been repeatedly raided and they’ve spent time in jail, but they deny all wrongdoing and have not yet been found guilty of anything.
“The big Romanian case against them appears to have stalled, after a judge ruled that the evidence wasn’t strong enough to go to trial, and the brothers have launched a suit in America against a woman they claim conspired to defame them through a fraudulent conspiracy.
“The Tates are confident that their complaint will be upheld and then all other charges will melt away. Perhaps I am gullible, or toxically male, but I can’t help believing them.”
In the complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), the women’s lawyers claim that Gray misrepresents the status of the criminal case against the Tates in Romania.
Romanian court records are said by the women’s lawyers to show that the case was returned to prosecutors because of procedural and evidentiary irregularities in the indictment. The court did not rule that the evidence was “not strong enough” or dismiss the case on evidential grounds, the women claim, and the charges are said by them to remain active and unresolved.
They further complain that the article makes no reference to an extradition order to Britain, requested by the UK in 2024 and later approved by the Romanian courts, that the brothers are subject to, “leaving readers with an incomplete and misleading impression of the seriousness and scope of their situation”, it is said.
Bedfordshire police have obtained a European arrest warrant for the two men but it has been agreed that extradition will wait on the proceedings in Romania to be completed.
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In the UK, Andrew Tate faces 10 charges connected to three alleged victims, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain. Tristan Tate faces 11 charges connected to one alleged victim, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
The women’s lawyers additionally allege that the magazine uncritically repeats the Tate brothers’ allegations of being “set up” by Romanian authorities, of rejecting a $50m (£37m) PR payoff to “stop spouting” their views, and of being targeted by a “deep state” operation in the UK.
These claims are presented at length with no critical scrutiny, it is claimed. The article does note that the Tates were not willing to provide the name of the PR company that made the alleged financial offer.
The women’s lawyer, Matt Jury, said he was also concerned by a description in the magazine of the Tates’ so-called Hustlers University, later known as The Real World, which Gray describes as an “online platform for young men looking for purpose and ways to make money outside traditional employment”.
On the Spectator’s website it says that the magazine is a member of Ipso and abides by the editors’ code. “We also uphold strict standards of accuracy,” it adds.
The women did not approach the Spectator seeking a correction to the article, headlined “‘Like a cockroach, I refuse to die’: a meeting with the Tate brothers”, but went directly to Ipso, it is understood.
Gove, who stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election, was announced as the new editor of the Spectator last September after the magazine’s purchase for £100m by Paul Marshall, a British hedge fund tycoon and investor in GB News.
A spokesperson for the Spectator said: “The Spectator allows its readers to make their own minds up on controversial questions. Regulators are not there to police what is acceptable speech.”
