Simon & Schuster stands by Milo Yiannopoulos book despite backlash

Associated Press in New York
Friday 30 December 2016 20.00 GMT

Despite heavy criticism, publisher Simon & Schuster is moving forward with plans to release a 2017 book by the conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, which it says will be about free speech.

Yiannopoulos writes for Breitbart News, considered by many as a platform for the “alt-right” movement, an offshoot of conservatism that mixes racism and populism and has risen to prominence alongside the rise to the presidency of Donald Trump. Former Brietbart chief executive Steve Bannon is a close adviser to the president-elect.

Yiannopoulos’s Twitter account was suspended earlier this year after a series of racially insensitive tweets to Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, who is black. Yiannopoulos has denied he is a white nationalist.

The Hollywood Reporter reported on Thursday that Yiannopoulos was paid $250,000 for the book. Simon & Schuster, which is owned by New York media company CBS, said it does not discuss book advances.

The Chicago Review of Books announced on Twitter that it would not review any Simon & Schuster books next year because of the publisher’s “disgusting validation of hate”.

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