Who Is Milo Yiannopoulos, Breitbart Editor Dropped By Publisher For Pedophilia Comments?

Milo Yiannopoulos is a Greek and British author based in the US who recently lost his book deal with Simon & Schuster over comments he made concerning pedophilia.

WHO IS MILO YIANNOPOULOS

Yiannopoulos has referred to himself as the “most fabulous supervillain on the internet,” while others regard him as a blatant purveyor of hate speech. In 2015, he was appointed a senior editor at ultra-right wing Breitbart News. He is also outspokenly pro the alt-right, as well as openly gay. He refers to Donald Trump as “Daddy.”

Videos have recently come to light of the writer seemingly condoning and encouraging sexual encounters between “younger boys and older men.” Understandably this was met with huge amounts of backlash, and Simon & Schuster canceling his book publication, an autobiography titled Dangerous. This is the third book by Yiannopoulos that was announced and never released.

“I would like to restate my utter disgust at adults who sexually abuse minors,” Yiannopoulos wrote on Facebook in an apology, which is exceedingly rare for the writer. While he did not deny the recordings, he did say that his comments were poorly worded, and that they had been edited to remove context. “In most cases – you guys know – if I say something outrageous or offensive, in most cases my only regret is that I didn’t piss off more people, but in this case if I could do it again I wouldn’t phrase things the same way. Because it’s led to confusion.”

“I’m partly to blame,” he continued. “My own experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous. But I understand that my usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor might have come across as flippancy, a lack of care for other victims or, worse, ‘advocacy.’ I deeply regret that.”

Following this chain of events, Yiannopoulos has been disinvited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). “We realize that Mr. Yiannopoulos has responded on Facebook but it is insufficient,” said American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp in a statement. “It is up to him to answer the tough questions and we urge him to immediately further address these disturbing comments.”

“@ACUConservative has decided to rescind the invitation of Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at #CPAC2017.” pic.twitter.com/sVWGnPCW7C

— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 20, 2017

This is not the first time the writer has gotten into trouble for his controversial comments. In 2016 he received a permanent ban from Twitter after he instigated a series of online abuse toward SNL comedienne Leslie Jones over her role in that year’s Ghostbusters.

Simon & Schuster has also faced backlash for their agreement to publish Yiannopoulos’ book in the first place. More than 100 of its other authors protested the deal, but the company went ahead and even gave the ultra-conservative author a $250,000 advance. Feminist author Roxanne Gay pulled her books from the publisher as well, and the Chicago Review of Books had already announced its refusal to review anything published by Simon & Schuster in 2017 as a result of their deal.