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Milo Yiannopoulos (; born Milo Hanrahan, 18 October 1984), who has also published as Milo Andreas Wagner and the mononym Milo, is a British alt-right political commentator. His speeches and writings often ridicule
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
,
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...
, and
political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
. Yiannopoulos is a former editor for '' Breitbart News'', an
American far-right In United States politics, the radical right is a political preference that leans towards extreme conservatism, white supremacism, or other right-wing to far-right ideologies in a hierarchical structure paired with conspiratorial rhetoric alongs ...
media organisation. Yiannopoulos worked for ''Breitbart'' from 2014 until 2017. During this time, Yiannopoulos rose to prominence as a significant voice in the
Gamergate harassment campaign Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" p ...
. In July 2016, he was permanently banned from
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
for online harassment of actress Leslie Jones. He was permanently banned from
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
in 2019. According to emails by Yiannopoulos leaked by '' BuzzFeed News'' in late 2017, Yiannopoulos solicited white nationalists, such as '' American Renaissance'' editor Devin Saucier, for story ideas and editing suggestions during his tenure at ''Breitbart''. Yiannopoulos has been accused of advocating paedophilia. The allegation arose from several video clips in which he said that sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and adult men and women can be "perfectly consensual" and positive experiences for the boys. Following the release of the video clips, Yiannopoulos resigned from his position at ''Breitbart'', his invitation to speak before the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was revoked, and a contract to publish his autobiography with
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
was cancelled. Yiannopoulos has said that he is not a supporter of paedophilic relationships and that his statements were merely attempts to cope with his own victimhood, as an object of
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
by unnamed older men. In 2022, Yiannopoulos served as an intern for Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, then worked with musician
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
on his 2024 presidential election bid.


Early and personal life

Born as Milo Hanrahan, Yiannopoulos was born and raised in Chatham,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England."Milo Yiannopoulos Is the Walking Embodiment of Bulls**t"
. Daily Beast, James Ball, 12 March 2017.
His father is of half- Greek and half- Irish descent and his mother is Jewish. His parents divorced when he was a child. Raised by his mother and her second husband, Yiannopoulos has stated that he did not have a good relationship with his stepfather. He is described as a practising
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
. As a teenager, Yiannopoulos lived with his paternal grandmother whose surname, Yiannopoulos, he later adopted. Yiannopoulos was educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...
from which he has said he was expelled. He attended the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...
but dropped out before graduating; he then read English at Wolfson College, Cambridge, but was sent down (expelled) in 2010. In 2017, Yiannopoulos was a U.S. resident
alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
on O-1 visa status. He married his long-term boyfriend in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
in September 2017. In March 2021, during an interview with right-wing publication '' LifeSiteNews'', Yiannopoulos claimed to be " ex-gay" and stated his husband had been "demoted to housemate". In August 2021, Yiannopoulos claimed that he tested positive for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
and implied that he used ivermectin to treat himself, despite the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
(FDA) and medical professionals warning against using the medication as a treatment for COVID-19.


Career

After he dropped out of university, Yiannopoulos initially secured a job at '' The Catholic Herald''. In 2009, Yiannopoulos moved to technology journalism with ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''. His ''Telegraph'' columnist bio described him in 2009 as one who "writes sceptically about Web 2.0 and social media but enthusiastically about the internet in general." In June 2022, Yiannopoulos became an unpaid intern for Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene.


''The Kernel''

In November 2011, Yiannopoulos co-founded ''The Kernel''. In March 2013, ''The Kernel'' was shut down amidst allegations of unpaid wages, at a time when Yiannopoulos was the Editor-in-Chief and sole director of the parent company, Sentinel Media. It was reopened later that year under Kernel Media, with Yiannopoulos remaining Editor-in-Chief and having privately settled the previous debts. In 2014, ''The Kernel'' was acquired by Daily Dot Media, the parent company of ''
The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometo ...
''. After the acquisition by Daily Dot Media, Yiannopoulos stepped down as editor-in-chief, although he remained an adviser to the company.


''Breitbart News''

In 2014, Yiannopoulos started writing for '' Breitbart News'', and in October 2015, ''Breitbart'' placed Yiannopoulos in charge of its new "Breitbart Tech" section. The site had six full-time staff, including
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional sports, professional players, individually or as ...
specialist Richard Lewis, and was edited by Yiannopoulos until his resignation on 21 February 2017.


Gamergate

In 2014, Yiannopoulos emerged as a "lead actor" in the Gamergate harassment campaign through his work at ''Breitbart'', becoming one of the most vocal of Gamergate's supporters. Yiannopoulos employed Gamergate as a basis for online attacks on women, and his role in Gamergate allowed him to become one of the central figures in the mainstream growth of the alt-right. Before Gamergate, Yiannopoulos referred to gamers as "pungent beta male bollock scratchers" and also said that "Few things are more embarrassing than grown men getting over-excited about video games".


Association with neo-Nazism and the alt-right

In early October 2017, '' BuzzFeed News'' published leaked email chains from Yiannopoulos' tenure at ''Breitbart''. According to the report, Yiannopoulos and his ghostwriter Allum Bokhari regularly solicited ideas for stories and comments from people associated with the alt-right and
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
movements. Among the figures Yiannopoulos contacted were Curtis Yarvin, a central figure of the
neoreactionary The Dark Enlightenment, also called the neo-reactionary movement (sometimes abbreviated to NRx), is an anti-democratic, anti-egalitarian, reactionary philosophical and political movement. In 2007 and 2008, software engineer Curtis Yarvin, writin ...
movement; Devin Saucier, the editor of the white supremacist magazine '' American Renaissance'';
Andrew Auernheimer Andrew Alan Escher Auernheimer ( ; born ), best known by his pseudonym weev, is an American computer hacker and professional Internet troll. Affiliated with the alt-right, the Southern Poverty Law Center has described him as being a neo-Nazi, w ...
, the administrator of neo-Nazi website '' The Daily Stormer''; and Baked Alaska, a commentator known for his antisemitic and pro-Nazi tweets. The story also reported that Yiannopoulos had a penchant for using personal passwords with
antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...
overtones, such as 'Kristall', a reference to Kristallnacht and 'longknives1290', a compound reference to the Night of the Long Knives and the Edict of Expulsion. In a ''Breitbart'' article, Yiannopoulos and a co-author described the alt-right movement as "dangerously bright". The ''
Tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the ...
'' stated that many of these intellectual backers write for publications it describes as racist and antisemitic, such as VDARE and '' American Renaissance''. The ''Breitbart'' article was criticised by opponents of the alt-right for excusing the extremist elements of the movement, and also by the neo-Nazi website '' The Daily Stormer'' which holds that racism and antisemitism are pillars of the alt-right. The
Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
classifies Yiannopoulos as part of the alt-lite, a term used to distinguish individuals sometimes associated with the alt-right from those who are openly white nationalist and antisemitic. These accusations, as well as Yiannopoulos's support for
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, have contributed to a feud between Yiannopoulos and Ben Shapiro, a Jewish conservative political commentator who refused to support Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Shapiro accused Yiannopoulos, his followers, and other Trump supporters of racist and antisemitic behaviour. He criticized Yiannopoulos's attempts to distinguish between real racist or bigoted behaviour and trolling, stating that "words have meaning" and that the distinction that Yiannopoulos was attempting to make "simply doesn't exist in objective reality". In 2017, Yiannopoulos was caught on camera singing " America the Beautiful" at a
karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
bar, where a crowd of neo-Nazis and white supremacists, including Richard B. Spencer, who cheered him with the Nazi sieg heil salute. Yiannopoulos subsequently claimed that he did not see the Nazi salutes while he was singing, citing what he claimed to be "extreme
myopia Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may includ ...
". According to the bartender who was working on the night of the incident, Yiannopoulos, Spencer and their entourage came into the bar and asked to sing karaoke even though it had ended. When the bartender saw the Nazi salutes she rushed the stage and told Yiannopoulos and his friends to leave, at which point they began harassing her, chanting "Trump! Trump! Trump!" and "
Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants ...
!" According to her, Yiannopoulos was getting the others "roused". Following these revelations, billionaire
Robert Mercer Robert Leroy Mercer (born July 11, 1946) is an American hedge fund manager, computer scientist, and political donor. Mercer was an early artificial intelligence researcher and developer and is the former co-CEO of the hedge fund company Renaissan ...
ceased his support for Yiannopoulos and condemned him, as did Yiannopoulos's former employer Steve Bannon. In November 2019, Yiannopoulos released an audio recording which appeared to feature Spencer using racist slurs against African Americans and Jewish people. The recording appeared to date from the immediate aftermath of the
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Kl ...
in Charlottesville in 2017 and the murder of
Heather Heyer The Charlottesville car attack was a white supremacist terrorist attack perpetrated on August 12, 2017, when James Alex Fields, Jr. deliberately drove his car into a crowd of people peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlotte ...
.


Tours

Yiannopoulos has appeared on a number of controversial tours. Beginning in 2015 with "The Dangerous Faggot Tour", encompassing universities in the United States and Great Britain. Although few of his American speeches were cancelled, many were met with protests ranging from vocal disruptions to violent demonstrations. Yiannopoulos has had visas denied or cancelled on multiple occasions. In January 2017, Yiannopoulos spoke at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
. The event led to large protests. A 34-year-old man was shot while protesting and suffered life-threatening injuries. A witness recalled seeing someone release pepper spray in the crowd, which triggered the shooting confrontation. On 1 February 2017, Yiannopoulos was scheduled to make a speech at
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
. More than 100 UC Berkeley faculty had signed a petition urging the university to cancel the event. Over 1,500 people gathered to protest against the event on the steps of Sproul Hall, with some violence breaking out. According to the university, around 150 masked agitators came onto campus and interrupted the protest, setting fires, damaging property, throwing fireworks, attacking members of the crowd, and throwing rocks at the police. These violent protesters included members of BAMN, who threw rocks at police, shattered windows, threw Molotov cocktails, and later vandalised downtown Berkeley. Among those assaulted were a Syrian Muslim in a suit who was pepper sprayed and hit with a rod by a protester who said "You look like a Nazi", and a woman who was pepper sprayed while being interviewed by a TV reporter. Citing security concerns, the UC Police Department cancelled the event. One person was arrested for failure to disperse, and there was about $100,000 in damage. The police were criticised for their "hands off" policy whereby they did not arrest any of the demonstrators who committed assault, vandalism, or arson. Berkeley police reported at least 11 arrests, but no injuries or damage to buildings. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said afterwards that the media event amounted to "the most expensive photo op in the university's history." In November 2017, Yiannopoulos began a tour of Australia, visiting Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth. During the
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
show, Yiannopoulos stirred controversy by projecting an unflattering photo of the feminist writer Clementine Ford, taken when she was a teenager, with the words "UNFUCKABLE" superimposed over the top. During events in Melbourne, he again stirred controversy when he described
Australian Aboriginal art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...
as "crap" and "really shit". There was violence outside his Melbourne events as protesters from the left-aligned
Campaign Against Racism and Fascism Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) was an anti-racist group and publication based in London which originated in the mid 1970s as an anti-racist/anti-fascist paper published by the federation of Anti-Fascist Committees in Greater London (An ...
and right-wing
True Blue Crew The True Blue Crew (TBC) is an Australian far-right extremist group. Members and supporters have been linked to right-wing terrorism and vigilantism, and members have been arrested with weapons and on terrorism-related charges. Experts who h ...
clashed. Seven people were arrested after clashing with police and outside the venue for Yiannopoulos's
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
event. Yiannopoulos claimed the violence was caused by "the left, showing up, being violent to stop freedom of speech".


Kanye West campaign manager

In 2022, he briefly worked with musician
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
on his 2024 presidential election bid. Yiannopoulos claimed that he arranged the November 2022 dinner between Trump, West and far-right commentator
Nick Fuentes Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American white supremacistMultiple sources: * * * * * political commentator and live streamer. A former YouTuber, his channel was permanently suspended in February 2020 for violatin ...
to "make Trump's life miserable".


Books

Yiannopoulos published two poetry books under the name Milo Andreas Wagner. His 2007 release ''Eskimo Papoose'' was later scrutinised for re-using lines from pop music and television without attribution, to which he replied that it was done deliberately and that the work was satirical.


''Dangerous''

A ghostwritten autobiography titled ''Dangerous'' was announced in December 2016. Yiannopoulos received an $80,000 advance payment from the book's planned publisher,
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
. It was intended to be published under their Threshold Editions. A day after its announcement, pre-sales for the book elevated it to first place on Amazon.com's list of best-sellers. In February 2017, Simon & Schuster cancelled its plans to publish the book in the wake of the video and sexual-consent comments controversy that also led to CPAC withdrawing its speaking invitation and Yiannopoulos resigning from ''Breitbart''. Yiannopoulos began litigation against Simon & Schuster for "breach of contract" and "breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing", seeking $10 million in damages. He dropped the suit in February 2018. In May 2017, Yiannopoulos announced that he would self-publish the book on 4 July 2017. Soon after the announcement, the book became the best-selling political humour book on Amazon. The book was a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' and ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' bestseller. The book further peaked at No. 1 on ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
''s nonfiction bestseller list and at No. 2 on the ''New York Times'' nonfiction bestseller list.Dangerous: * * * * * * * Subsequent publications *Yiannopoulos published the book ''Diabolical: How Pope Francis Has Betrayed Clerical Abuse Victims Like Me – and Why He Has to Go'' in 2018. He stated: "The main purpose of writing this new book was to talk about the homosexual cancer that has infected the Vatican". The book repeated the discredited claim that paedophilia and homosexuality are linked. Yiannopoulos promoted the book through Michael Voris, a traditionalist Catholic, celibate bisexual and anti-LGBT activist. *Yiannopoulos's self-published books ''How to Be Poor'' and ''How to Be Straight'' were also released in 2019. The former was released after the revelation of his alleged insolvency.


Controversies


Social media controversies and bans

In December 2015, Twitter briefly suspended Yiannopoulos' account after he changed his profile to describe himself as '' BuzzFeed''s "social justice editor." His
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account's blue "verification" checkmark was removed by the site the following month. Twitter declined to give an explanation for the removal of verification, saying that they do not comment on individual cases. Some news outlets speculated that Yiannopoulos had violated its speech and harassment codes, as with an instance where he told another user that they "deserved to be harassed." Others worried that Twitter was targeting conservatives. For his criticism of Islam after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, a terrorist attack on a gay nightclub, his Twitter account was briefly suspended in June 2016. His account was later restored. In July 2016, Yiannopoulos panned the '' Ghostbusters'' reboot as "a movie to help lonely middle-aged women feel better about being left on the shelf." After the film's release, Twitter trolls attacked African-American actress Leslie Jones with racist slurs and bigoted commentary. Yiannopoulos wrote three public tweets about Jones, saying "''Ghostbusters'' is doing so badly they've deployed eslie Jonesto play the victim on Twitter," before describing her reply to him as "barely literate" and then calling her a "black dude". Multiple media outlets have described Yiannopoulos' tweets as encouraging the abuse directed at Jones. Yiannopoulos was then permanently banned by Twitter for what the company cited as "inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others". He later stated that he was banned because of his conservative beliefs. In May 2019, Yiannopoulos and several others active in politics and culture, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and conspiracy theorists and fellow right-wing pundits Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson, were permanently banned from
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
, which called them "dangerous." "We've always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology," a Facebook spokesperson said. "The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today."


Yiannopoulos Privilege Grant

In January 2016, Yiannopoulos set up his Privilege Grant for white men to balance scholarships for women and minorities. He participated in an online telethon to raise money for the grant and in August 2016, reported that approximately $100,000 had been received in donations and a further $250,000 had been pledged. In August 2016, it was revealed that over a quarter of a million dollars had gone missing from the Yiannopoulos Privilege Grant. Yiannopoulos apologised for mismanaging the grant and denied that he had spent the money. In March 2018, Yiannopoulos confirmed that the fund had been closed down. In July 2022, Lauren Southern alleged that the mismanagement claims were false, and that instead the money had been transferred to Milo Yiannopolos.


Remarks on paedophilia and child sexual abuse

In February 2017, it was announced that Yiannopoulos would address the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). A conservative website, ''Reagan Battalion,'' then posted video of 2015 and 2016 clips of YouTube interviews at the request of a 16-year-old Canadian student who was opposed to Yiannopoulos' CPAC address. In the interview from a January 2016 episode of the podcast ''
Drunken Peasants ''Drunken Peasants'' (''DP'') is an American social, popular culture, and political commentary podcast that started in January, 2014. The podcast was originally hosted by the mononymous Ben (aka. Benpai), TJ Kirk, Scotty Kirk. Paul Parkey, Jr. ...
'', Yiannopoulos stated that sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and adult men and women can "happen perfectly consensually", because some 13-year-olds are, in his view, sexually and emotionally mature enough to consent to sex with adults; he spoke favourably both of gay 13-year-old boys having sex with adult men and straight 13-year-old boys having sex with adult women. He used his own experience as an example, saying he was mature enough to be capable of giving consent at a young age. He also stated that " paedophilia is not a sexual attraction to somebody 13 years old, who is sexually mature" but rather that "paedophilia is attraction to children who have not reached puberty." Later in the interview, after his previous comments received some pushback from the hosts, he stated: "I think the
age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally cla ...
law is probably about right, that is probably roughly the right age ... but there are certainly people who are capable of giving consent at a younger age, I certainly consider myself to be one of them." Yiannopoulos subsequently held a press conference, at which he said he had been the victim of child abuse, and that his comments were a way to cope with it. He declined to identify his abusers or discuss the incidents in any detail. He characterised his comments as the "usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humour", and dismissed the allegation that he endorses child molestation. He alleged that the video had been edited to give a misleading impression, and stated, "I will not apologise for dealing with my life experiences in the best way that I can, which is humour. No one can tell me or anyone else who has lived through sexual abuse how to deal with those emotions. But I am sorry to other abuse victims if my own personal way of dealing with what happened to me has hurt you."Paedophilia remarks: * * * In response to the controversy,
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
cancelled its plans to publish his autobiography in June 2017. Media outlets reported on 20 February that ''Breitbart'' was considering terminating Yiannopoulos' contract as a result of the controversy. Yiannopoulos resigned from ''Breitbart'' on 21 February, reportedly under pressure to do so. Yiannopoulos was later criticised for attending Hollywood "boat parties" and "house parties" in which boys he described as "very young – ''very'' young" were sexually abused, but failing to report the abusers to the authorities or to identify them during an appearance on '' The Joe Rogan Experience''. When asked about this by
Ryan Lizza Ryan Christopher Lizza (born July 12, 1974) is an American journalist. His 2017 interview with White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci allegedly resulted in Scaramucci's dismissal. Later that year, Lizza was accused of sexual misco ...
of '' New York'' magazine, Yiannopoulos said he "didn't check anyone's I.D.s." and that he "had no idea what the ages of any of those people at the parties were." He stated that when he said "very young" he was assuming that they were sixteen or seventeen. He reiterated that he doesn't "advocate for any illegal behavior" or excuse it. When, on 10 March, an additional video emerged in which he said on a 2015 episode of
Gavin McInnes Gavin Miles McInnes (; born 17 July 1970) is a Canadian writer, podcaster and far-right commentator and founder of the Proud Boys. He is the host of '' Get Off My Lawn with Gavin McInnes'', on the subscription-based streaming media platform ...
's show that child sexual abuse is "really not that big a deal. You can't let it ruin your life," Yiannopoulos was criticized for mocking child sexual abuse victims by calling them "whinging selfish brats" for "suddenly" remembering they were abused and "suddenly" deciding it was a problem 20 years after the abuse occurred. He also stated that a disproportionate number of paedophiles are homosexual.


Violence against journalists

In 2018, Yiannopoulos told at least two news organisations who had requested comments that he wanted vigilantes to shoot journalists. He wrote in a text message "I can't wait for vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight". Two days later, following a shooting at the ''Capital Gazette'' in
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
, in which five people were killed, Yiannopoulos denied that his comments were responsible, adding that his remarks were a joke. He later posted on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
that he sent the messages to troll journalists. On Facebook he wrote: "You're about to see a raft of news stories claiming that I am responsible for inspiring the deaths of journalists." and "The truth, as always, is the opposite of what the media tells you." In October 2018, following several instances in which pipe bombs had been sent to Trump critics, Yiannopoulos posted the following comment on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
: "Just catching up with news of all these pipe bombs. Disgusting and sad (that they didn't go off, and
the daily beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
didn't get one)". After initially refusing to remove the comment when it was reported as hate speech, Instagram later deleted the post.


Political views


General

In the United Kingdom, Yiannopoulos supported the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
before applying to join the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
in June 2018. A former supporter of Donald Trump, and a person who was compared to Ann Coulter, he has been referred to as the "face of a political movement," but he says his real concerns are "pop culture and free speech." In December 2020, Yiannopoulos denounced Trump, saying that "Trump's
SCOTUS The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
appointments were pointless. We defended a selfish clown for nothing," and that he would dedicate "the rest of my life to the destruction of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
."


Islam

Yiannopoulos is a frequent critic of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
. Following the June 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, he claimed that all of Islam, not simply a small group of radicals, was responsible for mistreating women and homosexuals. Yiannopoulos described social attitudes of Western Muslims as "horribly regressive." He has attempted to distinguish his opposition to Muslim immigration into the West from racism. After the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, Yiannopoulos said that he condemned the violence but wrote on Facebook that attacks like that happen "because the establishment panders to and mollycoddles extremist leftism and barbaric, alien religious cultures." He was widely criticized for this description and banned from making an intended speaking tour in Australia in 2019.


Women and feminism

Yiannopoulos is a frequent critic of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and "dumpy lesbians". He has frequently written articles that have been criticised as misogynistic. In a ''Breitbart'' article titled "Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy", he asserts that the
combined oral contraceptive pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: proges ...
causes women to become hysterical,
sexually promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by ma ...
and obese. He declared his birthday "World Patriarchy Day". In 2016, Yiannopoulos published a ''Breitbart'' article entitled "Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism Or Cancer?" He describes feminists as "easy to wind up", is critical of the idea of a
gender pay gap The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are working. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct numbers regarding the pay gap: non-adjusted ...
and claims that feminism has become "a mean, vindictive, sociopathic, man-hating movement." Yiannopoulos favours banning women from military combat units. In January 2018, Yiannopoulos reported a fictitious news story, written by a spoof news site, as being true. The article claimed that an English High Court had ruled that the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
was legally obliged to offer cervical smear tests to men. Unaware that the story was satire, Yiannopoulos argued that the story exemplified the thinking of those living in "feminist clown world". Before reading out the article verbatim, Yiannopoulos insisted that he had researched the story and promised that "this is real, I haven't just made this up".


LGBT rights

In 2011, Yiannopoulos described being gay as "a lifestyle choice guaranteed to bring ay peoplepain and unhappiness." In October 2017, he married his husband in Hawaii. That same month, he came out against the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, arguing it would violate religious freedom. In 2017, Yiannopoulos reiterated his belief that homosexuality is a sin and denounced those (including
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
) who sought to change Church dogma on the issue. "You don't see me disputing the Church's teachings on homosexuality...I wouldn't dream of demanding that the Church throw away her hard truths just to lie to me in hopes I’ll feel better about myself," he said. In August 2019, Yiannopoulos was grand marshal for a straight pride parade in Boston, organized by a group called Super Happy Fun America. The parade was ostensibly to celebrate
heterosexuality Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" ...
. In March 2021, despite having told Super Happy Fun America organizers in a conference call that "there are no ex-gays," Yiannopoulos declared to the '' LifeSiteNews'' website that he was an ex-gay and would begin advocating on behalf of improving the public image of gay conversion therapy. In June 2021, Yiannopoulos announced that he was fundraising for a gay conversion therapy centre in Florida.


Debt

In December 2018, his former Australian tour promoters, Australian Events Management, showed that Yiannopoulos had accrued more than $2 million in unpaid debt: $1.6 million to his own company, $400,000 to the
Mercer Family Foundation The Mercer Family Foundation is a private grant-making foundation in the United States. As of 2013, it had $37 million in assets. The foundation is run by Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of computer scientist and hedge fund manager Robert Mercer. Un ...
, $153,215 to his former lawyers, $76,574 to former collaborator and ''Breitbart'' writer Allum Bokhari, and $20,000 to the luxury brand Cartier.


Books

* * * ''How to Be Poor''. 2019. * ''How to Be Straight''. 2019. * ''Middle Rages: Why the Battle for Medieval Studies Matters to America''. 2019. * ''The Trial of Roger Stone''. 2020. Forewords * ''SJWs Always Lie—Taking Down the Thought Police''. 2015. Castalia Press. * ''Forbidden Thoughts''. 2017. Subversive Press. * ''Jordanetics: A Journey into the Mind of Humanity’s Greatest Thinker''. 2018. Castelia Press.


See also

* Rachel Fulton Brown, academic at the University of Chicago


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yiannopoulos, Milo 1984 births Living people 20th-century British people 21st-century British writers 21st-century Roman Catholics Alt-right writers Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge Breitbart London Breitbart News people British autobiographers British chief executives British columnists British critics of Islam British male journalists British mass media company founders British people of Greek descent British people of Irish descent British people of Jewish descent British poets British political writers British Roman Catholic writers British social commentators Conservatism in the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) people Conversion therapy Critics of atheism Discrimination against LGBT people in the United States Free speech activists Far-right politics in the United Kingdom Great Replacement conspiracy theorists Male critics of feminism Anti-Islam sentiment in the United Kingdom People educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys People involved in plagiarism controversies People from Chatham, Kent People self-identified as ex-gay Technology journalists Twitter controversies UK Independence Party people 21st-century pseudonymous writers