Residency in a Romanian jail cell on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and money laundering, has not, it seems, reduced the popularity of the self-proclaimed “Top G,” kickboxer, professional misogynist, and grifter extraordinaire Andrew Tate. For a brief period in 2022 Tate was the most Googled man on the planet; he continues to drive internet traffic and rack up billions of TikTok followers. Now in prison awaiting trial, his influence over young boys in his native United Kingdom has not diminished. There, reports of teachers complaining about the juvenile sexism inspired by his ceaseless stream of social media soundbites have become ubiquitous.

Momentarily, the Tate saga seemed over after major social medial firms “canceled” him. But something strange happened — the Tate machine proved too big to fail. Spurned by the social media establishment and the media, he managed to expand his influence and presence despite only posting his content directly on Rumble and other right-wing “alternative” social media platforms.

On the dark corners of the internet, Tate managed to speak directly to an audience of boys and young men. His “expulsion” from social media only served to increase his appeal among his target demographics. According to one study, 74 percent of British males between ages eighteen and twenty-four had consumed some sort of Tate content; substantially more boys have heard of Tate than of UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, a perhaps unsurprising fact given the relatively short shelf life of recent PMs. Teachers are reporting that Tate’s influence is directly changing the behavior of boys, who have taken to asking their instructors “what color is your Bugatti?” as well as parroting Tate’s sexist routines to girls and women.