Dangerous (book)

The book elicited controversy, including a statement on Twitter by the Chicago Review of Books that they would not review any Simon & Schuster books because of the book deal.[7][9][39][40]

On February 20, 2017, coinciding with Yiannopoulos receiving criticism for a resurfaced audio recording in which he defended certain forms of pedophilia, Simon & Schuster announced it would not be publishing the book.[2][11]

The book was released on July 4, 2017 by Dangerous Books, an independent publishing company started by Yiannopoulos in 2017. Yiannopoulos released a series of videos targeting the bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, for declining to stock his book in stores; the book is available for purchase through their website.

Around the time of the book's release, advertisements of the book appeared in public metros.[41][42] After complaints of the advertisements, Washington Metro subsequently removed them.[41] Meanwhile, in response to complaints, the Chicago Transit Authority responded "CTA cannot prohibit commercial advertising, in this case advertising for the sale of a book by a political person, based simply on that person’s political viewpoint."[42]

In July 2017, Yiannopoulos filed a $10 million lawsuit against Simon and Schuster, alleging breach of contract.[36]

In January 2018, Yiannopoulos's lawyer, Jeffrey Weingart, submitted Court documents announcing that there had been "a breakdown" in his relationship with Yiannopoulos due to "irreconcilable differences." Several days later, Yiannopoulos released a statement saying that although Weingart's law firm had served as "excellent litigators," he would represent himself against Simon & Schuster. Yiannopoulos explained that because Simon & Schuster had "demanded that virtually all of the documents in this lawsuit remain confidential, and had them classified attorney’s eyes only", it had not been possible for him to "see what has been said about me and my book in my own lawsuit." Yiannopoulos believed that by serving as his own attorney he would be allowed to see that material.[43]

While attending a court hearing in January 2018, Yiannopoulos argued that confidential documents, which had not been disclosed to him by Simon & Schuster were "absolutely essential for me to properly assess my own case". The presiding judge, Justice Barry Ostrager, disagreed and ruled that they contained "proprietary financial information" and said the documents had "nothing whatsoever to do with the substantive merits of your case".[44] Justice Ostrager explained the process that Yiannopoulos needed to follow in order to raise a dispute with a view to obtaining access to the documents.[45]

In papers filed on 20 February 2018 with the New York supreme court, Yiannopoulos and Simon & Schuster requested that the case be dismissed "without costs or fees to either party". Simon & Schuster later issued a statement stating: "We are pleased that Mr Yiannopoulos' lawsuit has been withdrawn. We stand by our decision to terminate the publication of Mr Yiannopoulos’ book." Yiannopoulos described ending the law suit as a "tough decision" but the "right one". Yiannopoulos justified his decision, by arguing that "it was always going to be hard to prove damages, as anyone who has ever hired a 'damages expert' will know. I don’t want to spend all the money I made from my book, and the next two years of my life, on a lawsuit."[46]

In December 2017, Court documents filed in the US revealed the editorial concerns of the publisher Simon & Schuster about the manuscript of the book. As part of the court submission, Simon & Schuster's editor Mitchell Ivers described Yiannopoulos's first draft as "at best, a superficial work full of incendiary jokes with no coherent or sophisticated analysis of political issues".[36]

As part of their feedback, the publishers recommended that Yiannopoulos needed a "stronger argument against feminism than saying that they are ugly and sexless and have cats" and that another chapter needs "a better central thesis than the notion that gay people should go back in the closet".[36]

At one point, the publishers criticized Yiannopoulos's assertion that "When America landed on the moon, the Cold War essentially ended". In response to the remark, Ivers stated: "The moon landing was 1969. Berlin Wall didn’t fall till 1990. Russia quitting the space race was NOT the end of the Cold War".[47] A section on the false claims of Hillary Clinton's connection to a satanic sex ring was completely removed. "This entire paragraph is just repeating Fake News", Ivers' annotation read.[48]

At multiple points, the publishers called on Yiannopoulos to substantiate assertions made in the book. Yiannopoulos was criticized for suggesting that the Hollywood left was more racist than Nazis, with the editor noting "I don’t like using Nazi analogies. Ever".[36]

Ivers suggested that Yiannopoulos's criticism that contemporary feminism was "merely a capitalist con-job – a money-grab designed to sell T-shirts to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé fans with asinine slogans", was hypocritical, and prompted the note "Um … like your MILO SWAG?"[36]

Consequent on the comments being published online, Yiannopoulos accused Ivers of flirting with him and being biased against his work. Yiannopoulos claimed that Ivers "hates Republicans and thinks they are all virulent homophobes".[49] Ivers, however, had a substantial role in commissioning the work. In court documents he stated: "It was not the serious and substantial commentary on free speech and political correctness that we expected and discussed," but was little more than a "reworking of Mr. Yiannopoulos various speeches."[48] Yiannopoulos later claimed that the comments were leaked to the press in an effort to "ridicule and demean" him.[44]