Milo Yiannopoulos sues Simon & Schuster for cancelling his book deal: 'They have to pay for silencing conservatives'

The publisher says the lawsuit is 'publicity driven and entirely without merit'

He was dropped after a video showed him seeming to defend paedophilia (Getty Images)

Far-right media personality Milo Yiannopoulos is suing his former book publisher for “willful and opportunistic” breach of contract, which the publisher says is “publicity driven and entirely without merit.”

The lawsuit, filed in the New York Supreme Court, alleges that Simon & Schuster broke contract when they decided against publishing his memoir “Dangerous” amid controversy over a video clip in which Mr Yiannopoulos appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13 — an interpretation of his remarks that the far-right provocateur says is wrong.

Mr Yiannopoulos was forced to self-publish his memoir, which jumped to the top of Amazon charts after release this month, but has since dropped to 10th. Mr Yiannopoulos’ lawsuit contends that the book would have sold more copies if it had been supported by the giant publisher.

Simon & Schuster dropped the media personality in spite of reportedly having paid $250,000 in advance for the memoir. He was reportedly allowed to keep $80,000 of that sum when dropped.

When contacted for comment on this story, Mr Yiannopoulos declined to comment.

“Although we have not been officially served, we believe that Yiannopoulos's lawsuit is publicity driven and entirely without merit,” a statement from the publisher provided to the Independent reads. “Simon & Schuster will vigorously defend itself against any such action, and fully expects to prevail in court.”

Mr Yiannopoulos made a spectacle of the lawsuit the week by announcing it outside of Simon & Schuster’s New York headquarters.

“They have to pay for silencing conservatives and libertarians. How many more books could I have sold… with their marketing muscle?” he said.

The number of books Mr Yiannopoulos has sold as a private publisher has been disputed. The company in charge of promoting the book says that there have been 100,000 copies sold. But, the US trade paper Publishers Weekly has said that figure is too high.

“Their shareholders should be pretty angry right now, because it isn’t going to stop at 100,000. We’re seeing everything pick up and continuing to pick up,” Mr Yiannopoulos told that paper. “Orders from distributors and retailers are getting bigger, not smaller. I think I can sell half a million copies without breaking a sweat. Simon & Schuster’s shareholders should be really, really pissed. And I’m really pissed at them – which is why I’m suing them.”

Simon & Schuster severed ties with the British-born media personality after a video showing him arguing that the age of consent — particularly in the gay community — shouldn’t be a one size fits all policy, sparked protest and controversy. Mr Yiannopoulos argued in the video that there are people younger than that threshold who are capable of giving informed consent, and said that relationships between men and young boys helps those children to discover themselves.

“Some of those relationships between younger boys and older men, those kind of coming-of-age relationships,the relationships in which those older men help those young boys to discover who they are, and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable — a sort of a rock for when they can’t talk to their parents,” he said.

When the interviewers said that the circumstance Mr Yiannopoulos was describing sounded like “priest molestation”, the far-right personality said that he is grateful for his childhood priest because he wouldn’t be able to give as good of oral sex without him.

Mr Yiannopoulos later clarified in a statement that he doesn’t support paedophelia, and noted that he may have been sloppy in his wording. He also said that the video that had gone viral online had been deceptively edited. As for the comments on giving better oral sex because of a priest, he said that was a joke.