Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos announced his resignation from the far-right news website Tuesday after a firestorm over his comments in which he appeared to condone pedophilia.
“Breitbart News has stood by me when others caved. They have allowed me to carry conservative and libertarian ideas to communities that would have otherwise never have heard them,” he said in a statement.
“They have been a significant factor in my success. I’m grateful for that freedom and for the friendships I forged there,” Yiannopoulos, 33, continued. “I would be wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues’ important reporting, so today I am resigning from Breitbart, effective immediately.”
His departure comes a day after his planned address at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference was canceled after the president of the group sponsoring the event gave him the boot for allegedly advocating pedophilia.
“Due to the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning pedophilia, the American Conservative Union has decided to rescind the invitation of Milo Yiannopolous to speak at the Conservative Political Action conference,” American Conservative Union president Matt Schlapp said Monday in a statement on Twitter.
“We realize that Mr. Yiannopolous has responded on Facebook, but it is insufficient. It is up to him to answer the tough questions and we urge him to immediately further address these disturbing comments.”
On the video, Yiannopoulos said that sex between 13-year-olds and older men can be “life-affirming” in the gay community.
Yiannopoulos’ book “Dangerous” also was canceled by Simon & Schuster.
Warning: Graphic content
Here is the uncut 5 minute video of Milo Yiannopoulos advocating for Pederasty involving “13 Year old” and “older men.” HIS WORDS.@Mschlapp pic.twitter.com/mAgmfpuyvu
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) February 20, 2017