A judge has denied a request by Andrew Tate’s former girlfriend to levy nearly $30,000 in sanctions against Tate, who she alleged had caused her to be wrongfully detained by authorities in Dubai.
Brianna Stern, a 29-year-old model who dated Tate for nearly a year, filed a civil lawsuit against Tate for sexual assault and battery in Santa Monica Superior Court on March 27 of last year. She alleges the former professional kickboxer sexually abused her in a room of the Beverly Hills Hotel in March. Tate lives in Romania and Dubai and holds dual U.S. and United Kingdom citizenships.
In her motion for sanctions, Stern alleged Tate set a trap for her in Dubai by creating falsified tweets to support a criminal complaint against her, i.e. impersonating her, so that she would be unable to leave Dubai if she traveled there for work, all in alleged violation of a restraining order she obtained against him earlier this year. Stern asked for at least $29,500 in sanctions against Tate to compensate her for hiring a Dubai attorney to obtain her permission to return to the United States.
But on Tuesday, Judge Mark Epstein denied Stern’s motion, finding there was no allegation, let alone evidence, that Tate has the power to direct UAE officials in the furtherance of their duties.
“He could not compel them to detain plaintiff,” the judge wrote, adding, “The court is also uncomfortable bulldozing its way into rulings based on the UAE legal system, about which this court knows practically nothing and about which neither party has chosen to enlighten the court.”
Tate submitted a sworn declaration denying Stern’s detention allegations.
“I did not submit falsified evidence to Dubai police, did not fabricate social media posts and did not impersonate Ms. Stern in any filing,” Tate said. “Any allegation that I did so is false.”
Tate also said he did not request that a travel ban be imposed, did not control whether any travel restriction was entered and had no authority over whether such a restriction was enforced, continued or lifted.
In her lawsuit, Stern says that during the March 2025 encounter at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she initially agreed to being intimate with Tate, but not to the alleged violence that followed.
“I did not consent to being choked, hit and verbally abused, and as stated I asked and begged Tate to stop,” Stern says. “I left the next morning as soon as I felt I could.”
Stern says she was later diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome. Tate countersued Stern on Aug. 12, alleging she knew her abuse allegations against him were false given that she was a “direct participant” in their “consensual encounters.”
Trial of the dueling litigation is scheduled for June 14, 2027.