Milo Yiannopoulos Sues Publisher Over Canceled Book

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

NEW YORK (CBSMiami/AP) — Polarizing right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos is seeking $10 million from a New York publishing company on Friday following a canceled book deal.

Milo Yiannopoulos holds up a copy of a legal complaint as he speaks outside the offices of Simon & Schuster publishing company, July 7, 2017 in New York City. Yiannopoulos is promoting a new book and filing a $10 million legal complaint against Simon & Schuster following the publisher's decision to cancel his book deal. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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.

A vocal supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, Yiannopoulos has made vicious comments about Muslims, women and others. His harassment campaign last summer against "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones led to his banishment from Twitter.

(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)