The Tate brothers are currently in jail in Florida and are fighting extradition to the UK where they face a slew of charges including rape. As they have attempted to convince a judge to allow them out on bail, they appear to have decided the best way is to admit that a lot of their presentation of themselves online is just fake. For instance, the lifestyle that the brothers present, full of luxury cars and private jets, is mostly the result of rentals.
In a legal submission to the court, the brothers' legal representatives said the Tates' business model "depends on online attention".
"The outrageousness of the posts by them and about them is the point. The more hyperbolic and outlandish the post, the more likely it will generate views and likes, which in turn generates income. In short, they are playing a role," it says...
"The government alleges that the Tates are a risk of flight based on their social media claims that they are 'self-proclaimed billionaires' who own 'high-end vehicles, private jets, and a custom $50-million-dollar superyacht and have unrestricted access to traditional funds, cryptocurrency, and bitcoin,'" it says...
The superyacht referenced is not owned by the Tates and they were paid to promote it, the submission says.
Cars, including an Aston Martin and Bugattis which featured in social media content, were rented, it says.
Here's the video in which Tate gave a tour of the unfinished yacht and claimed it was his.
And here's Andrew Tate picking up his Bugatti, which we now know was just a rental.
The day Andrew Tate received his Bugatti. pic.twitter.com/z4zVI5c6jW
— Malinga Galabada (@MalingaGalabada) June 21, 2026
Were they lying then or are they lying now? I honestly don't know, but according to their own lawyers they don't own the yacht or the car. Andrew Tate is actually Avis "We lie harder" Tate.
Today, both Tate brothers testified in court before a female magistrate. Tristan Tate took the stand and compared himself to Sasha Baron Cohen. He said he's really not the outrageous personality people see online.
Tristian Tate told the judge that he was testifying against the advice of his defense attorneys and compared his and his brother’s online personas to actor Sacha Baron Cohen, the famed British Jewish comic best known for playing journalist Borat Sagdiyev.
At one point, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Abbie Waxman asked Tristan Tate if he was a liar, the defendant responded: “I play a character, no more than any actor.”
Andrew Tate's lawyer said basically the same thing on his behalf.
The pair have been unfairly cast as monsters for the internet “characters” they play, Srebnick said.
Andrew Tate’s social media personality as “Top G” uses “foul language, speaks in vulgarities, advocates positions that are in many ways outrageous,” the lawyer conceded.
But that internet personality “is not the real Andrew Tate — that is not the person Andrew Tate. That is the character,” Srebnick said.
In short, everything the Tate brothers present online is a show for the dopes who think they are sincere. What's not a lie is that they are, between the two of them, facing 59 charges in the UK including rape. They ought to stay in jail until they can be escorted to a UK court to face those charges. Let's see if their "we were just pretending to be creeps" defense will work on the judges over there.
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