Publisher cancels Milo Yiannopoulos book deal

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February 20, 2017 10:53 PM

Yiannopoulos has been on a speaking tour to promote the book in recent months. Some of his appearances have been heavily rebuked by critics and protesters.

Milo Yiannopoulos, the tweeter formerly known as @nero

Milo Yiannopoulos, the conservative provocateur known for brusque and controversial political commentary, just had his book deal canceled by publisher Simon & Schuster.

"After careful consideration, Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions have canceled publication of 'Dangerous' by Milo Yiannopoulos," a statement from the company released Monday afternoon said.

Yiannopoulos confirmed the cancellation on his Facebook page.

Civil-rights advocates railed against Simon & Schuster after the $250,000 book deal was announced last year, citing Yiannopoulos' far-right politics that often delved into discriminatory language. The publisher defended the deal at the time, saying, "We do not and never have condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form."

The book cancellation was announced shortly after the Conservative Political Action Conference disinvited Yiannopoulos as a speaker over a video that recently surfaced showing Yiannopoulos commenting on pedophilia.

Yiannopoulos has been on a speaking tour to promote the book in recent months. Some of his appearances were heavily rebuked by critics and protesters. A Yiannopoulos speaking engagement at the University of California at Berkeley sparked campuswide protests earlier this month.

President Donald Trump scolded the university and suggested federal funds could be pulled if the school "does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view."

In response to the comments that led to Monday's events, Yiannopoulos issued an apology on his Facebook page:

Editor's note: Milo Yiannopoulos has previously written columns published by Business Insider.

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