The Hollywood Reporter ran a gushing press release this morning announcing Simon and Schuster's decision to publish Milo Yiannopoulos's memoir. Get a load of this swill:
"I met with top execs at Simon & Schuster earlier in the year and spent half an hour trying to shock them with lewd jokes and outrageous opinions. I thought they were going to have me escorted from the building -- but instead they offered me a wheelbarrow full of money," Yiannopoulos told THR.
Jesus, isn't it boring? Isn't that the most boring teenage bullshit you've read in your life? Don't get me wrong: Yiannopoulos is a white supremacist and a fascist. His beliefs are dangerous and he has been a cheerleader for society's villains for exactly as long as he's been on the world stage. We should not normalize his beliefs because they will, if unchecked, destroy society.
No, when I say Yiannopoulos is boring, I'm talking about his schtick, the method through which he communicates his hate. Yiannopoulos fancies himself a shock-jock, a more political Andrew Dice Clay or Marilyn Manson for the 21st century. He thinks he's edgy, and he praises himself for promoting shock and outrage when really promoting shock and outrage is just about the easiest thing in the world to do.
I'm already seeing calls to boycott Simon & Schuster and I'm already seeing Yiannopoulos supporters on Twitter cry censorship over those calls, even though it's not censorship at all. So let's lay it plain: Simon & Schuster is most definitely paying a white supremacist and a fascist (albeit a boring one who fancies himself a provocateur) a quarter million dollars to write a book. There's no other way to put it.