After a video resurfaced where Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannoupolis was found allegedly defending pedophilia, the story quickly became headline news. Only 24 hours later and Yiannoupolis is facing career-damaging backlash that he might not be able to bounce back from.
Milo trouble
Just over a year ago, Milo Yiannoupolis joined comedian Joe Rogan for a podcast interview. During their discussion, the issue of young boys dating older men was brought up, which Yiannoupolis, a gay man himself, elaborated on with his own personal experiences. At one point during the interview, Milo appeared to defend the act of young boys being sexually active with men that were many years older.
The video found itself online over the weekend and generated enough buzz that Yiannopoulos was disinvited from delivering a speech at the conservative CPAC convention later this month. On Monday, The Hill reported that Breitbart News is close to firing Milo after multiple employees threatened to walkout on the spot if action wasn't taken. The news only got worse for Yiannopoulos as the day moved on when it was announced that his deal with "Simon and Schuster" to publish his book "Dangerous" had officially been canceled. As seen on Twitter on February 20, social media turned the tables on the vocal right-wing troll in response to the news.
Simon & Schuster is canceling the publication of 'Dangerous' by Milo Yiannopoulos "After careful consideration." Full story coming soon.
— Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) February 20, 2017
"Milo Yiannoupolis reminding us all that you can be a traditionally persecuted minority and still be a total asshole.
Way to make sad," one Twitter user wrote. "I hated Milo Yiannoupolis before it was cool," another tweet read. "Sad that it took defending pedophilia for (some) conservatives to turn their back on #MiloYiannoupolis, but whatever does the trick?" an additional message said.
Milo is being discarded like a messy shite in a public toilet. #MiloYiannoupolis
— Mo Dalton (@stockysocks) February 20, 2017
It's interesting how much the headline pictures of #MiloYiannoupolis have changed in the last 48 hours. Went from put together to sloppy. pic.twitter.com/XtiPPpK8d2
— Maggie Donaldson (@magsd94) February 20, 2017
Other Twitter users voiced their anger by calling for violence, with one tweet reading, "Bigoted idiots like #MiloYiannoupolis shouldn't be given a platform to spew their bigoted views.
They need to be punched in the face." "I wish that #MiloYiannoupolis troll would go back under its bridge and stay. Freakin' wanker," one tweet noted.
#MiloYiannoupolis reminding us all that you can be a traditionally persecuted minority and still be a total asshole. Way to make 🌈 sad
— Allison (@allisomeone) February 20, 2017
I hated #MiloYiannoupolis before it was cool.
— slayeroflonewolves (@crischarliepaul) February 20, 2017
A poll was even conducted which asked whether or not parents would rather their child be a fan of the Breitbart editor or have cancer, officially asking, "Would you rather your child be a fan of Milo or have cancer?" The tweet appears to be a mockery of how Milo has described feminism in the past, which he refers to as a "cancer."
Would you rather your child be a fan of Milo or have cancer? #MiloYiannoupolis
— Vanguard Kentucky (@vanguardky) February 20, 2017
Moving forward
With each passing minute, the man who used to be a troll on Twitter, before he was banned from the social media platform last year, was on the receiving end of online backlash. While it's unknown whether or not Milo will keep his job at Breitbart News, as of press time, things don't look good for the controversial journalist from Britain.
