FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge says controversial social media personality Andrew Tate 's defamation lawsuit against a Florida woman who accused him of imprisoning her in Romania can move forward, but he threw out Tate's allegations against her parents and some allegations against the woman.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joseph Curley ruled that the widely followed former professional kickboxer, 37, and his brother, Tristan, 36, can pursue their allegations that the woman in 2022 enlisted another woman in a plot to extort money from them.
The British-American brothers say the woman falsely accused them of human trafficking and rape, costing them their freedom and millions of dollars in income from their lucrative social media, podcasting and business ventures. Romanian officials indicted the Tates last year, saying the brothers forced seven victims into pornography and subjected them to physical violence.
Her attorneys say the lawsuit is in retribution for her reporting him to authorities. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
Curley said in last week's ruling, posted to online court records Tuesday, that the Tates' attorneys have shown enough possible evidence that the woman defamed their clients and was attempting to defraud and extort them to warrant that the sides exchange discovery. He pointed to April 2022 text messages the woman and her friend exchanged where they say they will ask the Tates for $200,000 and “act like we still love them and stuff."
Curley also pointed to other text messages that could indicate the woman knew she falsely accused the Tates of sex trafficking and false imprisonment. No trial date has been set and because of discovery and legal challenges it could be years before one occurs, if ever.
Curley did throw out parts of the lawsuit accusing the woman of false imprisonment for the Tates being arrested, intentional infliction of emotional distress and interfering with their business relationships. He left the door open to their attorneys amending and refiling those accusations.
Curley dismissed the Tates’ accusations that the woman’s parents defamed them when they told American diplomatic officials about their daughter’s allegations. He said they had no reason to believe their daughter's accusations were false and had a right to report them. He had earlier dismissed allegations against the second woman because she is a Moldovan citizen living in Great Britain and outside Florida's jurisdiction.
Attorneys for the Tates and the woman each said Curley's decision was a win for their side.
Tate attorney Joseph McBride said they are “most pleased with Judge Curley's ruling" as the defamation accusation directly addresses the “plot to destroy Andrew and Tristan Tate's lives.” He said no decision has been made on whether to amend and refile the dismissed accusations.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law, which represents the woman and her parents, called Curley's ruling a “huge victory."
“We are very pleased the Court has tossed out the majority of this frivolous lawsuit and wisely narrowed the issues and claims,” attorney Dani Pinter said in a statement. "If the case proceeds, we look forward to the opportunity to prove the truth of what occurred in Romania, and we are confident that ultimately we will succeed and this harassing lawsuit will fail.”
Romanian investigators said in their indictment that the Tates and two Romanian women formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in that country, the United States and Britain. Prosecutors also confiscated the Tates’ assets, including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and about $3 million in cryptocurrency.
Investigators say the seven accusers were recruited with false declarations of love, but then forced to take part in pornography. The women were controlled by “intimidation, constant surveillance” and claims they were in debt, officials said.
But the Tates, in their lawsuit, paint a different picture. They say the Florida woman and all women who lived at their estate were free to come and go as they pleased, and closed-circuit security video can prove it.
Andrew Tate has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted. But he remains popular on X, with almost 10 million followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren. He runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women.
Several women in Britain also are pursuing civil claims against Andrew Tate, alleging they were victims of sexual violence. British authorities have charged the Tates criminally with sexual aggression. Details have not been disclosed.
In a 2023 interview with the BBC, Andrew Tate denied spreading a culture of misogyny and accusations that he manipulated women for financial gain.
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This story has been corrected to show that the judge is allowing the lawsuit to move forward to discovery, not trial.
Terry Spencer, The Associated Press
