Truth behind Milo Yiannopoulos’ book deal claims revealed by former publisher Simon & Schuster
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 29: Milo Yiannopoulos reacts during a press conference on arrival at the Sydney International Airport on November 29, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. Yiannopoulos is in Australia for his Troll Academy Tour. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Publisher Simon & Schuster has criticised right wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in court papers.
The major US publishers have claimed Yiannopoulos has no claims to a lawsuit he has filed as court proceedings get underway.
Meanwhile the former Breitbart editor is attempting to sue the company for $10m.
The publishers argue that it had an absolute contractual right to not publish Yiannopoulos’ work
According to papers filed by Simon & Schuster, Yiannopoulos did not immediately return an $80,000 advance, which they say represented a “full satisfaction and discharge of Simon & Schuster’s obligation under the [Publishing] Agreement.”
They also labelled the lawsuit a “meritless publicity stunt.”
“Yiannopoulos accepted the payment without protest, thereby sealing the accord and satisfaction and barring this lawsuit as a matter of centuries-old law,” their lawyer writes.
“That should have been the end of this contractual matter.
“Instead, Yiannopoulos waited approximately five months to file this lawsuit, in a naked attempt to drum up publicity for the publication of his book,” states court papers.
The company cancelled his book deal “after careful consideration”, when controversial video footage emerged of him appearing to defend men who have sex with underage boys.
Other authors had also threatened a boycott of the publishers after offering Milo the deal.
Yiannopoulos released a written statement and a video after he lost his job at Breitbart news and his book deal, following his remarks about child abuse, saying he is “partly to blame”.
A conservative publishing house had been rumoured to be buying his first book after he lost a book deal due to various outbursts.
But he later self-published the book.
In Britain the book has sold just 152 copies.
The book sold 18,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen Bookscan.
Yiannopoulos’ PR team had claimed that 100,000 copies had been sold in the US.
And the blogger has added that the delay in the sales count is down to booksellers underestimating demand and not ordering enough copies.
He said: “By now, you may have heard reports claiming we only sold 18,000 copies of Dangerous and that our 100,000 copies claim is exaggerated. I’m happy to report that this is fake news.”
