5 August 20-26, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PAPER TRAIL Andrew Tate said he had no commissary. The Department of Justice brought receipts. BY NATASHA YEE I f you indulge Joe McBride, Andrew and Tristan Tate’s at- torney, you might actually feel bad for the conditions the brothers are experiencing in jail: chemical spray seeping into their special housing units, cameras in meeting rooms that listen to and transcribe every word exchanged. “They’re being punished cruel and unusually,” McBride said during a podcast. “They’re not eating right, drinking right, or sleeping right.” But newly released U.S. Department of Jus- tice commissary receipts tell a different story — at least when it comes to the eating part. Records from Miami’s Federal Detention Center show the influencer brothers have maintained healthy commissary balances since their July 18 arrests, stocking up on snacks and other food while they fight extra- dition to the United Kingdom. As of Aug. 5, Tristan had a $2,583 account balance, while Andrew had $3,564. The re- ceipts are particularly notable because An- drew previously claimed from behind bars that he had no access to the commissary at all. “I am being held in SHU, the highest level of security which exists,” Tate’s X account posted July 23. “No commissary. No visits. No contact with the outside world.” He added that his neighbor was “a canni- bal who screams throughout the night.” Yet the newly released records show the brothers are eating less like deprived detainees and more like college freshmen with a stocked dorm room. On Aug. 5, Andrew and Tristan purchased identical commissary hauls, including ramen noodles (in chili, roasted chicken, and low sodium chicken flavors), Snickers and Twix bars, turkey and Swiss combo sticks, spicy sweet chili Doritos, and of course, Colombian coffee (to undoubtedly fuel those late-night tweets). Altogether, the brothers spent approximately $75 at the commissary, according to the records. The receipts don’t necessarily mean the brothers are eating well — federal commis- sary fare is hardly fine dining — nor do they disprove their other allegations about condi- tions inside FDC Miami. But they complicate a narrative Andrew and his legal team have pushed publicly since the brothers were taken into custody. Andrew has repeatedly complained about food and water inside the jail. In another post from his X account, which his attorney says is being operated by his team while he’s incar- cerated, he claimed a broken faucet left him without clean drinking water and forced him to drink warm water from his shower. McBride has amplified those complaints during media appearances, including on Mi- ami-based manosphere podcast Fresh and Fit. “They’re not eating right, drinking right, or sleeping right,” McBride said. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP), meanwhile, has pushed back on several of the claims. In a previous statement to New Times, BOP spokesperson Emery Nelson said in- mates at FDC Miami (including those housed in the Special Housing Unit, or SHU) have ac- cess to potable water, commissary, phone calls, recreation, social visits, mail, and legal counsel. The agency declined to discuss the Tates’ individual housing arrangements, cit- ing privacy and security concerns. That doesn’t mean FDC Miami has a spot- less record; the federal lockup has faced years of complaints about overcrowding, unsafe conditions, and mistreatment that long pre- date the Tates’ arrival. In 2024, an FDC Miami correctional offi- cer was charged with sexually abusing an in- carcerated person. Last year, an incarcerated woman told the Guardian that an influx of immigration detainees had worsened already poor conditions, with women packed into overcrowded units where toilets were broken and plumbing leaked. Just two days before the Tates’ arrests, family members and immigration advocates gathered outside the facility to protest what they described as “inhumane” conditions. One woman told WLRN that her incarcer- ated husband had reported cockroaches in the food, broken bathrooms, and a lack of clean drinking water. BOP has disputed claims that the facility lacks potable water, saying FDC Miami re- ceives annual certification from Miami-Dade County that its drinking water is safe. Still, the Tates’ allegations have become a rallying cry for their massive online following. McBride joined Fresh and Fit hosts Walter Weekes and Myron Gaines late last month to encourage supporters to demonstrate outside the detention center ahead of the brothers’ Aug. 13 detention hearing. “Come out Aug. 13,” McBride said. “There’s a crowd right there formulating.” McBride did not respond to a New Times inquiry for comment via telephone by the time of this reporting. Gaines subsequently promoted an Aug. 13 protest outside the jail, while Tate supporters have already gathered near the detention center holding signs visible from the building. The brothers have been detained since U.S. Marshals arrested them in downtown Miami on July 18 as the British government seeks their extradition over allegations in- volving multiple women. Federal complaints filed in the Southern District of Florida allege Andrew raped and as- saulted a woman in England in 2015, including repeatedly choking her until she lost conscious- ness while sexually assaulting her. A separate complaint accuses Tristan of raping another woman and assaulting a third. The allegations span incidents between 2012 and 2015. British prosecutors have since announced an expanded slate of charges. Andrew faces seven additional rape counts, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three assault charges, and 19 charges involving indecent images of a child and extreme pornography. Tristan faces addi- tional rape, sexual assault, trafficking, and other charges but is not accused of child-im- age offenses. Both brothers have denied wrongdoing. Their attorneys are asking a federal judge to release them while they fight extradition, arguing in part that their detention conditions constitute “special circumstances” warrant- ing release. Prosecutors oppose the request, arguing the brothers pose a flight risk. And while the brothers’ broader com- plaints about conditions inside the troubled federal lockup aren’t so easily dismissed, the government’s own receipts appear to settle at least one question. The commissary, it seems, is open. [email protected] Tate Photo by Andrei Pungovschi/Getty Images / Commissary receipt via DOJ / Ramen via Adobe Stock | METRO | ▼ MIAMI FAMILY BUSINESS JOSHUA KUSHNER (WHO OWNS A MINORITY STAKE IN THE HEAT) BUYS A STAKE IN THE LAKERS. BY B. SCOTT MCLENDON F resh from helping enrage the soccer world as part of FIFA’s now-scrapped sell-out scandal, Miami resident and Mi- ami Heat minority owner Joshua Kushner is pissing off some Los Angeles Lakers fans after ESPN reported on his and Bob Iger’s $12.5B purchase of the team. The basketball world was shocked to hear the news on Wednesday, Aug. 12, with many complaining that another major sports brand had fallen into the hands of private investors (the same complaint was central to soccer fans’ gripe against Kushner’s proposed pur- chase of the Swiss nonprofit FIFA last month). According to ESPN, Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are behind the purchase after the two were initially involved in a pro- posed NBA expansion into Las Vegas, “but in a stunning turn they pivoted to make an aggres- sive offer to buy the Lakers from Mark Walter, who had purchased a controlling interest in the team from the Buss family last year,” ESPN se- nior writer Ra- mona Shelburne tweeted. Many fans vented their an- ger and bewilder- ment in the comments. “The Lakers are sold to a Kush- ner in the same week the Yankees get further in bed with private equity. Absolutely awful for fans,” one user commented. “Welp, I went from not caring about the Lakers to ‘fuck the Lakers’ this morning,” an- other user wrote. Like his older brother Jared, Josh Kushner comes from one of America’s most prominent business dynasties. The family’s wealth was built in real estate, but its national profile exploded during President Donald Trump’s first term, when Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, became one of the administration’s most influential advisers. Husband to supermodel Karlie Kloss, Josh’s (secondary) claim to fame is his invest- ment company Thrive Capital. The billion-dollar company, of which Thrive Eternal is an arm, in- vested about $1 billion in Sam Altman’s OpenAI. In 2020, Josh and Kloss bought a $23.5 mil- lion home on North Bay Road, which The Wall Street Journal dubbed “Miami’s Richest Road.” About five years later, he made another sizable Miami purchase, buying a reported minority stake in the Miami Heat (a team Forbes valued at about $5.7 billion at the time). Kushner will reportedly have to sell his ownership in the Miami Heat to make way for his Lakers purchase, according to ESPN. [email protected] KUSHNER WILL REPORTEDLY HAVE TO SELL HIS OWNERSHIP IN THE MIAMI HEAT TO MAKE WAY FOR HIS LAKERS PURCHASE. The Tate brothers’ commissaries seem to be well stocked.
