News broke Dec. 30 that conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos signed a book deal with Threshold Editions, an imprint of publishing company Simon and Schuster, entitled “Dangerous” to be released in March of this year.
The book comes after Yiannopoulos was permanently banned from Twitter after “Ghostbuster” actress and “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones was harassed on social media by Yiannopoulos and his followers, causing Jones to take a hiatus from the platform.
Yiannopoulos rose to fame as a writer for Brietbart News, the alt-right website founded by President-Elect Trump’s pick for chief strategist, Steve Bannon.
No stranger to controversy, Yiannopoulos was on DePaul’s campus last May for an event on free speech hosted by DePaul College Republicans. The event was shut down after protestors arrived in opposition to Yiannopoulos and his political viewpoints.
A university representative said that this was the first time the Student Center was shut down due to an event.
“My purpose was to listen and to hear what he had to say and understand the point of view that he presented,” Edward Ward, a law student at DePaul and well-known activist in the community, said.
But after hearing Yiannopoulos and his viewpoints about the African-American community, Ward said he felt compelled to intervene. Over 100 protestors interrupted the event, causing Yiannopoulos and his followers to march outside of the Student Center.
“Even if you don’t agree, those are Yiannopoulos’ views,” DePaul sophomore Jeramie Bizzle said. “There’s only so much protesting you can do. For people who don’t agree with him, just don’t go to his events or read his book.”
Many criticized the University for allowing the event to be shutdown and for denying Yiannopoulos the opportunity to come back to DePaul, igniting a national discussion on free speech on college campuses across the nation.
“You cannot come into our house and bully our people and then expect to have a comfortable seat in our house,” Ward said.
For Ward, Yiannopoulos’s upcoming book deal is another opportunity for the Breitbart editor to spread negativity on a larger scale.
“The book speaks to a larger issue, this is a proven bully and now he is given a bigger platform to spur his bullying,” Ward said. “You have a bully that gets to a presidency and a bully that gets his own book deal.”
Yiannopoulos reportedly took a $250,000 advance from the publishing company, and 24 hours after the announcement, “Dangerous” surged to the No. 1 spot on Amazon’s best seller list.
Simon and Schuster released a statement on Twitter shortly after the book announcement. The publishing house, which has published books by Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Laura Ingraham and Glenn Beck, said they do not condone discrimination or hate speech, and opinions expressed in authors’ books do not reflect their corporate viewpoint or viewpoints of their employees.
Still, some fault the publishing company more than Yiannopoulos.
“Yiannopoulos’ reach to the ‘alt right’ and other conservative groups has dumbfounded me and left me feeling hollow and threatened simply for existing,” DePaul sophomore Gabriella Quiñones said. “However, I believe that any person living in this country should be protected by constitutional freedoms. I fault the publishing company for accepting his offer and perpetuating his hatred more than him for exploiting capitalism to earn a living. The publishing company has tarnished their reputation and is not one I will continue to support in the future.”
Although Bizzle believes the book deal was likely a business decision made to get their publication on the map, he said that Yiannopoulos shouldn’t be denied his right to freedom of speech.
“People come to universities for political diversity where they can voice their own opinion and not get judged for it,” Bizzle said. “If it’s not him, it’s going to be someone else. There’s always going to be something that’s going to create some type of friction or societal problem. You cannot please everyone.”
