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Manosphere influencers are promoting abuse and violence against women

Young men are being influenced by misogynistic figures like Andrew Tate, Sneako, and Jon Zherka. Parents in particular should be aware of the dangers these figures pose.

Content warning: This article contains images and descriptions of violence.

“Manosphere” personalities including Andrew Tate, Sneako, and Jon Zherka are promoting abuse and extreme violence against women online. These influencers have defended beating women, mocked abuse survivors, and called for the acceptance of abuse against women similar to customs in Saudi Arabia.

These figures are part of the manosphere, an online community of right-wing websites, bloggers, and influencers cultivating a worldview based on a conservative and regressive gender politics repackaged for the internet age. The group often pushes extremism and antisemitism while blaming women for myriad societal woes and treating them as an inferior sex.

Some of these figures use other topics that interest young men — like weightliftingvideo games, and boxing — to draw in viewers before diving into extremist content and misogyny, creating a dangerous pipeline.

Reporting shows how easily toxic rhetoric can infiltrate the minds of young audiences, even among users as young as 11 years old. Parents in particular should be aware of the dangers these figures pose. Additionally, this misogynistic and extremist rhetoric does not live in a vacuum online; it can lead to real-world violence and harassment.

  • Andrew Tate

  • Professional kickboxer, media personality, and alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate is one of the most well-known influencers in the manosphere. He has made several violent and abusive proclamations about women.

    Here is a breakdown of comments Tate has made promoting violence and general abuse against women:

    • In a video, Tate held a machete and explained how he would use it to attack a woman in his bed: “Oh, ‘you cheated, you cheated.’ It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face, then grip her up by the neck."
    • Tate argued that rape victims should “bear responsibility” for their attacks.

    • While discussing a hypothetical romantic relationship with reality TV star Kylie Jenner, Tate claimed that all of her physical property would become his.

  • Video file

    Citation From the July 28, 2022, edition of Full Send Podcast, streamed on YouTube

    • Tate said, “I’ll teach you to respect masculinity one way or another. … If you’re unfixable, we’ll sleep together once and I’ll never talk again.”

    • Tate said that relationships work only if a woman “obeys like she’s supposed to.” He later added, “I think the world can be a beautiful place as long as gender roles are not misconstrued or misunderstood.”

  • Video file

    Citation From the June 26, 2022, edition of Stand Out TV's Grilling 

    • Tate said, “The truth is about the masculine-feminine dynamic is that females like men who are completely in charge and run their life exactly how they want and they comply and bend to the man's wills and lifestyle.”

  • Video file

    Citation From the June 26, 2022, edition of Stand Out TV's Grilling 

  • Sneako

  • Sneako (real name Nico Kenn De Balinthazy) is a manosphere influencer and former associate of pro-Hitler rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) who has been described as “a cheap imitation” of Tate. Sneako regularly streams on right-wing YouTube knockoff Rumble and currently has 365,000 subscribers on the platform. Additionally, he currently has 1.7 million followers on Instagram.

    Sneako has refused to condemn Adolf Hitler and attacked Jewish people online, saying that “the Nazis had drip” and that the swastika is “aesthetically pleasing.” He is also an associate of white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and spoke at one of Fuentes’ antisemitic rallies.

    During an October 29 Rumble stream, Sneako suggested giving the “back hand” to a woman he disagreed with, then said the violence he would like to employ in such a situation is not legal in America.

    “What I think would have been fair is illegal in the United States,” Sneako said.

  • Video file

    Citation From an October 29, 2023, Sneako Rumble stream

  • Later in the stream, Sneako reminisced about how men would respond to women “50 years ago,” including beating them and giving them a black eye.

  • Video file

    Citation From an October 29, 2023, Sneako Rumble stream

  • During a November 19 stream, Sneako fantasized about women getting beheaded in Saudi Arabia for twerking. 

    “Tell me in Saudi that twerking is — ‘It’s a spiritual practice,’” Sneako said. “Beheaded. Beheaded.”

  • Video file

    Citation From a November 19, 2023, Sneako Rumble stream 

  • In a TikTok video, Sneako is seen slapping a woman in the face. 

    “She has been acting up all night — I’m sick of it,” Sneako said after hitting her.

  • Video file

    Citation TikTok uploaded by user muntifyy 

  • Sneako reportedly “fake” slapped a woman in public during a visit to Disneyland.

  • A clip of young Sneako fans repeating bigoted comments to him shows how easily his audience picks up his toxic rhetoric.

  • Jon Zherka

  • Self-proclaimed woman-hater and manosphere influencer Jon Zherka, who has described Hitler as a “good guy” and praised Fuentes, has also shared content promoting violent attacks against people, including women. 

    Zherka was reportedly temporarily banned from Kick, a new streaming platform with relaxed content moderation policies. It is not entirely clear why he was banned, but some users speculate it could be because Zherka was seen flirting with underage girls while streaming. Zherka wrote that he will now stream on Rumble.

    On X (formerly Twitter), Zherka posted a picture with his hand around the neck of a woman and suggested that men should treat women like dogs.

  • Zherka post "Women only smile when they lose to you."

    Citation Screenshot from Zherka's X account 

  • In another post, Zherka shared several pictures of himself manhandling women. One of the photos includes Zherka with his hand around the neck of a woman.

  • Zherka "Professional creep"

    Citation Screenshot from Zherka's X account 

  • In a clip from the misogynistic Fresh & Fit podcast, Zherka said he is “absolutely” willing to hit women.

  • Video file

    Citation Screen recording from Zherka's X account 

  • Zherka claimed that it is acceptable to beat a woman if he is fighting a couple over public displays of affection.

    “If you’re a straight dude doing all that fucking nasty shit, making out with your girl at the park, I try and fight both of them, at the same time,” Zherka said. “I go, you know, it’s a two verse one, so I guess I can hit a woman."

    “We need some Saudi energy,” Zherka continued. “We need to start cutting tongues for this kind of shit."

  • Video file

    Citation TikTok video uploaded by user @jonzherkaa 

  • In multiple posts, Zherka has bragged about attacking people.

  • Zherka "fight Black people"

    Citation Screenshot from Zherka's X account 

  • Zherka adin post

    Citation Screenshot from Zherka's X account 

  • In another, he joked that a woman being bunched at a gym was “training to date a black guy.”

  • Zherka "training" post

    Citation Screenshot from Zherka's X account   

  • In another post, Zherka wrote, “Bullying women and being verbally abusive is so hot to them.”

  • On a video call with two women, Zherka asked, “Do you guys like men who domestically abuse women?”

    “No,” both women responded.

    Zherka then said, “Ok, well, you’re going to have to adjust.”

  • Video file

    Citation Screen recording from Zherka's X account

  • During another video call, Zherka said to a woman, “Give me pussy or I’m taking it.”

  • Video file

    Citation Screen recording from Zherka's X account

  • In an X video post with the caption “ABUSING WOMEN,” Zherka is seen in a hotel room with two women. 

    Zherka says to the camera, “Watch this domestic abuse. I’m going to punch this bitch in the face.”

  • Video file

    Citation Screen recording from Zherka's X account

  • Other manosphere influencers

  • Myron Gaines (real name Amrou Fudl), one of the hosts of Fresh & Fit, claimed that women who are kicked off the show and don’t leave fast enough are in danger of getting “punched.”

  • Video file

    Citation Video from the r/h3h3productions Reddit thread

  • Antifeminist troll Hannah Pearl Davis has claimed that “men are punished” for emotional abuse “but women aren’t."

    “Women’s emotional abuse is a lot more sneaky,” Davis said. “Men’s emotional abuse is just — I mean, they could tell you not to wear something and it’s emotional abuse."

  • Davis has also downplayed other methods of emotional abuse.

  • Manosphere influencer Jonathan Hogwood suggested that women should “endure” abuse from men.

  • Video file

    Citation Clip from the Whatever podcast