Simon & Schuster gave Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos a $250,000 deal
Milo Yiannopolous via Twitter
Last week, it was announced that Simon & Schuster gave Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos a $250,000 book deal. The openly-gay champion of the alt-right was banned from Twitter last year after unleashing a horde of racist trolls to harass Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones. Yiannopoulos has unapologetically attacked Muslims, refers to Donald Trump as “daddy,” and once wrote an article for Breitbart entitled, “Science Proves It: Fat-Shaming Works.” Simon & Schuster’s decision to give the alt-right mouthpiece a platform caused the Chicago Review of Books refuse to review any of its 2017 releases.
Adam Morgan, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Review of Books, released a statement saying:
“I wanted Simon & Schuster to know that broadcasting his rhetoric would have real-world consequences. So I made a decision that has nothing to do with political ideology and everything to do with human rights and decency: the Chicago Review of Books will not cover a single Simon & Schuster book in 2017.”
Morgan’s announcement comes as Simon & Schuster’s U.K. division has decided not to release the book. Although some have criticized Morgan’s decision as anti-free speech, Morgan sees is as the perfect exercise of his First Amendment rights. “Free speech doesn’t protect anyone from repercussions in a free market,” Morgan said. “The literary community — and society at large — has the freedom to respond in kind. That’s why the UK division of Simon & Schuster has decided not to publish Yiannopoulos’s book.”
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