Milo Yiannopoulos (/jəˈnɒpələs/;[2] born Milo Hanrahan; 18 October 1984; also writing under the pen nameMilo Andreas Wagner)[3][4] is a British political commentator, publisher, media personality, blogger, journalist and author claimed to be associated politically with the alt-right.[5][6]
Yiannopoulos is a former senior editor for Breitbart News, who describes himself as a "cultural libertarian".[7] He is a critic of feminism, Islam, social justice, political correctness, and other movements. Though often described as a member of the alt-right, he rejects this label, stating that there are many "points of difference" between him and the alt-right movement.[8] In October 2017, leaked emails revealed that Yiannopoulos had repeatedly solicited neo-Nazi and white supremacist figures on the alt-right for feedback and story ideas in his work for Breitbart.[9] The leaked emails also showed that his book and many of his Breitbart articles were ghost-written.
Yiannopoulos was born and raised in Kent. After being expelled from Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, he studied at the University of Manchesterand Wolfson College, Cambridge but failed to gain a degree from either. He began working in technology journalism for The Telegraph before co-running The Kernel, which was devoted to technology journalism, in 2011–13. He was one of the first journalists to cover the Gamergate controversy. In 2015 he began work at Breitbart, attracting attention for his opinions and the company's association with the alt-right. He relocated to the United States, where he became a vocal supporter of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. In July 2016 he was permanently banned from Twitter for what the company cited as "inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others".
Yiannopoulos has been accused of being an apologist for or supporting child sexual abuse, a charge he strenuously denies. The charge arises from a video clip in which he said that sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and adult men and women can be "perfectly consensual" and positive experiences for the boys.[10] Following the release of the tape, Yiannopoulos was forced out of his position at Breitbart, and lost a contract to publish his autobiography with Simon and Schuster. Yiannopoulos has denied that he is a supporter of such relationships, and claimed that his statements were an attempt to cope with his own past victimhood, as an object of child abuse by unnamed older men. His critics, in claiming that he is a supporter of child sexual abuse, also invoke a second video, in which he stated that it "really is not that big of a deal" and called its victims "selfish brats" for going public and identifying their accusers years after they were abused.[11]
