While Andrew Tate has become a household name for his brand of misogyny mixed with get-rich-quick tips, he is far from the only online influencer promoting dangerous ideas alongside more innocuous lifestyle advice.
Gareth Southgate highlighted the role of “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” in shaping problematic worldviews among young men and in harming their mental health. Here are some of the people he could be referring to.
Jordan Peterson
Alongside Tate, the conservative Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson is one of the more established names seen to be promoting sexist and anti-feminist ideas on YouTube as part of the “manosphere” – though he has denied being a misogynist.
He has 8.64 million subscribers to his account, which advocates against gender equality and in favour of traditional roles on the grounds that men and women are fundamentally different. He has also argued that trans activism is “sexist and delusional”, as well as a denial of science.
Debbie Ging, a professor of digital media and gender at Dublin City University, said her recent study of toxic masculinity noted that he advocates “traditional masculine values of courage, self-discipline and order as an antidote to the alleged chaos and narcissism of ‘woke’ modernity”.
Another recent study suggested that Peterson’s popularity had contributed to the rise of boys and men who believe that feminism has done more harm than good.
Peterson has said in a video that the “Andrew Tate phenomenon” is a result of Tate becoming “a voice” offering “forthright aggression” as an alternative to “cringing defeat”, a perspective which he said he “had sympathy” for, although he added he was not “particularly impressed” by some of Tate’s work.
Adin Ross
Ross is a longstanding Andrew Tate collaborator, as well as a self-proclaimed admirer of his content. His own output has been described as misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and racist.
Ross, who is American, started as a gaming streamer on Twitch, but gradually evolved to espouse misogynistic views after inviting Tate to join his Twitch stream in 2022.
The pair soon began streaming together regularly, during which Tate took on a coaching role, advising Ross on how to achieve “success”, including suggesting his girlfriend had left him because he had not yet become “a formidable force of man”.
Ross has since been banned from Twitch for showing unmoderated hateful comments in his live stream chat, and now streams games on Kick, as well as posting YouTube videos on his channel, which has 4.54 million subscribers.
His channel features an interview with Tate from five months ago, while an earlier clip included the claim that women are bad drivers and should avoid going to clubs alone to prevent abuse.
Ross has also travelled to Dubai to meet Tate in person, and continued to support him after his arrest in Romania, questioning the validity of the charges brought against him.
Sneako
Sneako is often described as an Andrew Tate imitator. He started out as a YouTuber posting gaming, motivational advice and man-on-the-street interview videos, but was later banned from the site. He has since moved to the alternative video-sharing platform Rumble, where he has 416,000 followers.
Anda Solea, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth, noted that Sneako has “shifted toward making misogynistic and hateful content as well as collaborating with white supremacists and Nazis”.
He is a frequent guest on the Fresh and Fit podcast, where he has belittled women alongside the hosts Walter Weekes and Myron Gaines.
He is also known for his interest in far-right white supremacist ideology, antisemitic views, “red pill” misogynistic ideology and promotion of conspiracy theories.
Sneako, who is also American, has posted controversial ideas such as discussing “female privilege”, suggesting that “feminism is about taking all the power while men are struggling”, “feminism turns women into men”, and “a woman’s worth is what she looks like and a man’s worth is your masculinity, is your respect”.
Recent posts include a video expressing admiration for the Unabomber’s manifesto and a video titled: “All women are gold diggers.”
Fresh and Fit (Walter Weekes and Myron Gaines)
Weekes (nicknamed “Fresh”) and Gaines (“Fit”) are US podcast hosts who push alpha male ideology and dating strategies that are criticised for being misogynistic.
Their eponymous YouTube channel has more than 1.5 million subscribers tuning in to its “females, fitness and finances” focus, though this includes misogyny and racist views. Gaines is the author of the book Why Women Deserve Less.
The Fresh and Fit account posted on X, formerly Twitter, says that “simps, the government and society as a whole pedastalizes [sic] women for having a vagina. Give them less so they respect you and give you more. Everyone else gives them more so you don’t have to.”
The hosts, who are both black, have said they would refuse to date a black woman.
They also frequently invite women on their podcast to humiliate and belittle them. This includes feminists as well as OnlyFans performers, some of whom appear to be drunk or high, with the aim of the hosts “demolishing”, “destroying” or “owning” their arguments.
Recent videos suggest that “men don’t want to date” single mothers, that women going on female-only holidays with their friends is a “red flag” in a relationship, and modern women cannot date men.
They have invited Tate on to the podcast on multiple occasions and have claimed he is innocent of charges of human trafficking and other offences since his arrest by Romanian authorities.
In 2023, YouTube demonetised the podcast owing to tension between the guests and hosts. The pair have since moved their show to Castle Club, an independent subscription-based hosting site.
Ging’s study found that the Fresh and Fit podcast featured heavily in the content recommended to male teenagers’ accounts.
Hamza Ahmed
The British YouTuber Hamza Ahmed is the most prominent “manosphere’” influencer in the UK, with 2.28 million people following his controversial advice on dating, health and making money.
Recent videos warn that men are “more feminine than ever” and suggests that men “should not show emotion”, suggesting in it that a “feminine woman always needs a masculine man” and that women respect emotional men less.
He has charged hundreds of pounds for online courses offering dating, social skills and fitness advice.
He runs an online community called Adonis School to help those men who are seeking to become “a top 1% man”, and charges $999 (£770) for a lifetime subscription to videos on how to become a content creator.
Solea said Ahmed expresses his views “more covertly”, reflecting the pickup artists’ ideology, which portrays women as sexual objects that need to be conquered through various tactics.
