Writer Milo Yiannopoulos sues over canceled book

Jeremy Papasso/Daily Camera / AP

In this Jan. 25, 2017, file photo, Milo Yiannopoulos speaks on campus in the mathematics building at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.

Associated Press

Friday, July 7, 2017 | 7:13 p.m.

NEW YORK — Right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos filed a $10 million lawsuit against a New York publishing company on Friday over a canceled book deal.

Yiannopoulos resigned from the conservative website Breitbart News this year after comments he made about sexual relationships between boys and men. In video clips, he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13. He had planned a memoir titled "Dangerous" and had a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish it, but the company dumped the book after the comments surfaced.

Yiannopoulos' lawsuit claims the publishing company breached its contract and bowed to "false and misleading reports."

"Because of political pressure ... in the space of 24 hours they suddenly decided that the book was unfit for publication," Yiannopoulos told reporters outside Simon & Schuster's Manhattan offices. "Well that's unacceptable. They don't get to break the deal on what I believe is a false pretext because they caved to political pressure. So they have to pay."

The publisher dismissed the lawsuit as a publicity stunt. "Simon & Schuster will vigorously defend itself against any such action, and fully expects to prevail in court," the company said in a statement to the Daily News.