Names and faces
Milo Yiannopoulos is dropping the lawsuit he filed against his former publisher. In papers filed Tuesday in New
York State Supreme Court, Yiannopoulos and Simon & Schuster asked that the case be dismissed “without costs or fees to either party.” In a Facebook posting Tuesday, the far-right author and agitator said ending the suit was a “tough decision” but the “right one.” He wrote that
“it was always going to be hard to prove damages, as anyone who has ever hired a ‘damages expert’ will know.” Yiannopoulos sued for damages last summer after the publisher canceled the release of his memoir Dangerous. Simon & Schuster acted after video clips of Yiannopoulos surfaced in which he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and underage boys. Yiannopoulos alleged breach of contract and said the publisher gave in to “false and misleading reports.” Simon & Schuster had called the suit a publicity stunt. Last fall, a judge allowed the case to proceed after Simon & Schuster had asked that it be dismissed. But in January, Yiannopoulos’ legal counsel withdrew, and the author announced that he would represent himself. “We are pleased that Mr. Yiannopoulos’ lawsuit has been withdrawn,” Simon & Schuster said in a statement Tuesday. “We stand by our decision to terminate the publication of Mr. Yiannopoulos’ book. Yiannopoulos eventually self-published Dangerous, which came out last July 4. Yiannopoulos added on Facebook: “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.”
Court documents show that R&B singer R. Kelly has been evicted from two Atlanta-area homes over unpaid rent. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Feb. 13 filings with the Fulton County magistrate court show that Kelly owes more than $31,000 in past-due payments to SB Property Management Global. The filings also indicate that Kelly paid $3,000 a month and $11,542 a month, respectively, for two homes just 2 miles apart. Records don’t show criminal filings related to the matter. Neither the property company’s Edmond Green nor Kelly spokesman Trevian Kutti would comment to the newspaper. Last week, the Fulton County district attorney’s office said it was still reviewing a file from Johns Creek police after July 2017 allegations that the Grammy winner was holding women against their will as part of a cult.