Simon & Schuster has canceled Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ book deal after video surfaced of Yiannopoulos defending sex with minors. Publishers Weekly reported the news in a tweet, and Yiannopoulos confirmed it in a Facebook post that read merely “They canceled my book.”
Yiannopoulos’ book, titled Dangerous, was described as covering issues of free speech. He received a $250,000 advance from Simon & Schuster’s Threshold imprint, which has also released books by Glenn Beck and Donald Trump. At the time, Simon & Schuster defended the decision, saying it published a “wide range of authors with greatly varying, and frequently controversial opinions … While we are cognizant that many disagree vehemently with the books we publish we note that the opinions expressed therein belong to our authors, and do not reflect either a corporate viewpoint or the views of our employees.” At least one author, feminist writer Roxane Gay, pulled their work from Simon & Schuster in response.
They canceled my book.
Posted by Milo Yiannopoulos on 20hb Februari 2017
While Yiannopoulos has a history of making offensive statements, his defense of statutory rape in a 2016 podcast — along with similar, previous comments — may have marked a tipping point. Earlier today, the Conservative Political Action Conference canceled his planned speech, saying there was “no disagreement among our attendees on the evils of sexual abuse of children.” Simon & Schuster has not yet responded to an emailed request for comment.
If Dangerous does not find another outlet for publication, this could mark the third Yiannopoulos tome to be announced but never released, after a non-fiction book called The Sociopaths of Silicon Valley and a retrospective on the Gamergate controversy. However, he did self-publish a collection of poetry in 2007, under the name Milo Andreas Wagner.