Milo Yiannopoulos Resigns From Breitbart News Amid Pedophilia Controversy

Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor at the right-wing Breitbart News, has resigned from his post amid controversy over apparent comments he made about pedophilia.

Yiannopoulos issued a statement on his resignation Tuesday, thanking the company for allowing him to “carry conservative and libertarian ideas to communities that would otherwise never have heard them.”

The announcement comes after Simon & Schuster canceled his book deal following newly surfaced remarks in which he defends relationships between boys and older men. The comments also cost him his invitation to speak at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.

“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,” Yiannopoulos said in a statement. “This decision is mine alone. When your friends have done right by you, you do right by them. For me, now, that means stepping aside so my colleagues at Breitbart can get back to the great work they do.”

Yiannopoulos told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that he was sorry to abuse victims for his comments that he said may have been viewed as “flippant.” “This is me apologizing for saying things I did not mean,” he said. “For those statements I did make where I misspoke, I’m here today to apologize.”