Judge says $10m Milo Yiannopoulos lawsuit against former publisher should continue
A New York judge has chosen to uphold Milo Yiannopoulos’ lawsuit against his former publisher.
The alt-right activist, who was exposed today as having sung in front of a room of people doing Nazi salutes, is suing Simon & Schuster for dropping his book.
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.
The publisher has since tried to have the case thrown out of court by a judge, which has now been rejected.
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 and he went on to self-publish the book, Dangerous.
However, the judge ruled waiting to file the suit did not negate his right to sue.
New York Supreme Court judge Barry Ostrager said Yiannopoulos’ decision to self-publish did not mean he had accepted the terms of the contract’s termination.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Yiannopoulos said” “I’m happy that the court recognised my case deserves to be heard.
“As we expose Simon & Schuster’s despicable and cowardly decisions to the world, it will be a lesson to all publishers that you can’t breach contracts with conservatives just because Leftists get angry and send you mean emails, and because liberal bloggers are disappointed in you.”
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.
Other authors had 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”.
Today Buzzfeed has published documents exposing Milo Yiannopoulos’ links to white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
In an explosive release by Buzzfeed News today revealed intimate details of his dealings, raising serious questions about his conduct.
One video released by Buzzfeed shows Yiannopoulos singing ‘America the Beautiful’ at a far-right karaoke event, attended by self-described neo-Nazi Richard Spencer.
Spencer and many other in the crowd are clearly visible in the clip performing Nazi salutes directly in front of the stage as Milo sang without any objection.
