Andrew Tate is accused of rape and threatening a woman with gun in UK lawsuit

London: Andrew Tate, the online influencer known for his misogynistic views, has been accused of raping two women and threatening one of them with a gun, in a claim filed in Britain's High Court.

The accusations are part of a lawsuit filed by the two women, and two others, last June against Tate. The New York Times obtained details of their claims from the court ahead of a hearing on the case in London on April 15.

The four British women are suing Tate for alleged abuse relating to a period when he was living in England, between 2013 and 2015. All four women accuse him of choking them, and two of them, one of whom was working for him at the time, accuse him of rape. Under British law, people who make complaints of sexual offenses are granted anonymity unless they choose to waive it.

One woman who worked for Tate's webcam business in 2015, said in the claim that Tate, a former kickboxer, raped her and beat her with a belt. The claim alleges that he pointed a gun at her while saying: "I'm a boss" and "You're going to do as I say, or there'll be hell to pay."

A second woman, who was in a personal relationship with Tate in 2013, said that he raped her on two occasions. All four women said Tate choked them in different encounters, and two of them said it was to such an extent that they developed red spots in their eyes that indicated bleeding capillaries.

Tate, in both court filings and public statements, has denied all the accusations against him and said that any sexual intercourse was consensual.

The case is one of several lawsuits that have accused Tate, an influencer with more than 10 million followers on the social platform X, of exploiting and abusing women. He is facing separate criminal investigations in Britain and Romania into allegations of human trafficking, money laundering and sex crimes.

Andrew Ford, a lawyer for Tate, said in a statement Thursday that the women's claims would be fully contested in court. The claims had been thoroughly investigated by police several years ago, he said, and prosecutors had decided then not to charge Tate with any crime.

In a court filing, Tate denied that he had threatened or coerced the women into acts they were unwilling to carry out. A claim that he beat one woman with a belt was "made up," he said, and he denied threatening her with a gun.

The women are seeking damages for assault, battery and infliction of intentional harm, and said they had suffered from mental stress and humiliation.

Two of them said they were recruited by Tate between December 2014 and April 2015 to work for his webcam business, which involved displaying their faces and bodies on a webcam to men online, who made requests of them in return for payment. The other two women said in a claim that they had been in separate personal relationships with Tate in 2013 and 2014.

All of the women said in the claim that, at first, Tate was kind or charming to them. But over time he became controlling or threatening, they said. One of the women who worked with Tate said that he restricted her food and her movements. In a court filing, Tate said that there was no schedule imposed on the woman and that she could sleep or eat whenever she wanted.

Three of the women had reported their accusations to local police, who investigated the claims, according to their lawyers. But the Crown Prosecution Service, the independent public body responsible for criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, decided not to bring charges in 2019.

A spokesperson said in a statement that a prosecutor had concluded there was not a "realistic prospect of conviction," which is the threshold for all charges. Only 2.6% of rape allegations recorded by the police in England and Wales resulted in a prosecution in the year ending in March 2024.

Tate's lawyers have argued that the case should not be heard by the High Court because the alleged conduct happened outside the typical three-year statutory limitation period for personal injury claims. Lawyers for the women have called for judges to use their discretionary powers to hear the claim. The women, they said in court filings, feared the "aggressive online presence" of Tate and his followers, and they accused him of threatening to release their personal images and details online.

"For years these British women have been denied justice by the police and CPS, while watching Andrew Tate's influence grow," said Matt Jury, a lawyer at McCue Jury & Partners, who is representing the claimants. "They have been left with no other choice but to bring their case in the High Court to finally bring Tate to account."

The women have called for the British government to seek the extradition of Tate, who is a citizen of Britain and the United States. Tate is still being investigated for allegations of criminal wrongdoing in Romania, but a Romanian court lifted a travel ban on him in January. He has since traveled to the United States before returning to Romania for ongoing court proceedings. This month, Tate traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"It is deeply troubling that such graphic and one-sided accounts are being publicized before any judicial assessment has taken place," said Mateea Petrescu, a spokesperson for Tate. "Mr. Tate will defend himself vigorously and remains confident the truth will prevail."