In a statement, Yiannopoulos said he made the decision to leave independently.
“Breitbart News has stood by me when others caved,” he said. “They have allowed me to carry conservative and libertarian ideas to communities that otherwise never would have heard them. They have been a significant factor in my success. I’m grateful for that freedom and for the friendships I forged there.
“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. This decision is mine alone.
“When your friends have done right by you, you do right by them,” he concluded. “For me, that means stepping aside so my colleagues at Breitbart can get back to the great work they do.”
But according to The Washington Examiner, several employees had said they’d quit Breitbart News if Yiannopoulos was not terminated, with half a dozen employees threatening to walk out.
The threat of walk-outs occurred after video clips of an interview Yiannpoulos gave to The Drunken Peasants Podcast emerged, edited in a way to suggest that he was condoning pedophilia. Backlash from social conservatives ensued, prompting the Conservative Political Action Conference to rescind its invitation to have Yiannopoulos give the keynote speech at the conference, which takes place from Feb. 22-25 at National Harbor.
Yiannopoulos subsequently responded via Facebook, in a post where he said he was disgusted by adults who sexually abuse minors, and apologized for his poor word choice. In the interview, Yiannopoulos actually said he agreed with the current age of consent for engaging in sexual conduct, though he suggested that a few select individuals — himself included — were mature enough to decide on their own.
“I do not support pedophilia. Period. It is a vile and disgusting crime, perhaps the very worst,” Yiannopoulos wrote. “There are selectively edited videos doing the rounds, as part of a co-ordinated effort to discredit me from establishment Republicans, that suggest I am soft on the subject.”
He also apologized for using the word “boy” when talking about relationships between older and younger gay men of legal age — something he notes that heterosexual people unfamiliar with the gay community might misinterpret as condoning pedophilia.
But another senior editor at Breitbart badmouthed Yiannopoulos to the Washingtonian, slamming the right-wing provocateur for his comments.
“Talking about young boys and somehow seeking to ameliorate concerns over young boys’ relationships with older men … I’m pretty sure everyone in the company would vomit upon hearing these words,” the editor said. “What right-thinking person doesn’t feel sick to their stomach when hearing something like that?”
As February comes to a close, we should take time to mourn Nex Benedict, who will never see another one. The 16-year-old Oklahoma student reportedly complained of ongoing bullying before the Feb. 7 bathroom altercation that may well have led to their death.
As Freedom Oklahoma puts it: "While we continue to piece together the full story...we reflect on the growing anti-2SLGBTQ+ sentiments our youngest community members are facing more often, fueled by state law and the rhetoric around it, words and actions of our state elected officials, and the growing platforms those in power are giving to people like Chaya Raichik who continues to use her platform in a way that leads others to threaten real harm at Oklahoma kids."
The founder of a right-wing, anti-LGBTQ website allegedly sent shirtless selfies of himself working out to younger, single male employees before his abrupt resignation last November, according to a recent article in The Washington Post.
Michael Voris, a former local television reporter, founded Real Catholic TV in 2006, setting up the company's website to espouse a return to traditional Catholicism and defend socially conservative views that align with Church doctrine.
The media organization was strongest in its criticism of the Catholic Church's more liberal clergy -- particularly Pope Francis -- and their efforts to appeal to a wider swath of people by refraining from outright condemnation of behaviors or lifestyles that the Church deems "sinful" and speaking out against more extreme anti-LGBTQ laws.
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