Milo Yiannopoulos Disinvited From CPAC

Milo Yiannopoulos' invitation to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference has been rescinded after video surfaced of the controversial figure in which he appears to defend pedophilia.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 Yiannopoulos to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, " ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp said in a statement.

"We realize that Mr. Yiannopoulos 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."

The comments have also lost Yiannopoulos his book deal with Simon & Schuster, spokesman Adam Rothberg tweeted Monday.

The publishing company had earlier defended its decision to give Yiannopoulos the deal.

Yiannopoulos defended the controversy on his Facebook page in a lengthy post. He said pedophilia was vile and disgusting and the videos that had been circulating were selectively edited "as part of a co-ordinated effort to discredit me from establishment Republicans, that suggest I am soft on the subject." He noted that he had outed pedophiles as a journalist and said that he himself was a victim of abuse.

The Breitbart journalist is no stranger to controversy. Violence has broken out in protests at college campuses where Yiannopoulous has been scheduled to speak, including most recently at the University of California at Berkeley. The violent protests have prohibited Yiannopoulous from speaking.

“An epidemic of speech suppression has taken over college campuses,” Schlapp told the Hollywood Reporter regarding Yiannopulous' appearance at CPAC. “Milo has exposed their liberal thuggery and we think free speech includes hearing Milo’s important perspective.”

After the protests at Berkeley, Trump threatened federal funding to the college.

Both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are scheduled to speak at the conference, as are top White House officials Reince Priebus and Stephen Bannon. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are also among the dozens of scheduled speakers at the conference.

The conference, a key event for conservatives, takes place later this week at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland.

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