Publisher Simon & Schuster has cancelled the publication of a book by right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos following outrage over a recording that appeared to show Mr Yiannopoulos endorsing sex between "younger boys" and older men.
A statement from the publisher said: "After careful consideration, Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions imprint have cancelled publication of Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos. "
Mr Yiannopoulos confirmed the report on Facebook with a post: "They canceled my book." He added : "I've gone through worse. This will not defeat me."
The book was reportedly secured for an advance of $250,000 (€236,000) and was to be published by Simon & Schuster’s conservative imprint, Threshold Editions.
According to Yiannopoulos’s Facebook page, the book – an autobiography titled Dangerous – was due out on 13 June. It is the third book that Yiannopoulos has announced, after he flagged forthcoming titles on the Gamergate controversy and Silicon Valley that never appeared.
Simon & Schuster’s decision follows outrage over a recording that appeared to show Mr Yiannopoulos’s comments about sex between “younger boys” and older men were made during an internet livestream and circulated in an edited video on Twitter.
In the clip, Mr Yiannopoulos said the age of consent was “not this black and white thing” and that relationships “between younger boys and older men... can be hugely positive experiences”.
The American Conservative Union subsequently rescinded its invitation to Mr Yiannopoulos to speak at its annual CPac conference over the "offensive video … condoning paedophilia". Matt Schlapp, the ACU chairman, said Yiannopoulos' response was "insufficient" and urged him to "immediately further address these disturbing comments".
The Washingtonian also reported that employees at Breitbart in the US, where he is a senior editor, were threatening to quit if Mr Yiannopoulos were not fired.
In a video that was on his Facebook page for a few hours on Monday, Yiannopoulos said, of reports that he had endorsed child abuse, that “nothing could be further from the truth”.
“I find those crimes to be absolutely disgusting. I find those people to be absolutely disgusting.”
He did not contest the recording but said his comments were “stupidly worded” and that it 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.”
The video was no longer available on Facebook three hours after it was posted. Yiannopoulos later publicised that he would hold a press conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Yiannopoulos’s book deal with Simon & Schuster was condemned by many who perceived the publishers to be giving him a mainstream platform for his often offensive and controversial views.
Mr Yiannopoulos was permanently banned from Twitter in July 2016 for instigating abuse of the Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones. – (Guardian Service)
