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Milo Yiannopoulos ‘can’t put food on the table’ and might ‘retire from social media entirely’

Milo Yiannopoulos says he’s “getting close to quitting” due to lack of followers (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty)

Milo Yiannopoulos, the former editor of Breitbart and mascot for Boston’s Straight Pride, has complained that he can’t put food on the table as none of his fans are supporting him.

The self-described ‘pop star of hate’ has previously said he would “cure” himself of being gay if he could, described trans people as “mentally ill gay men dressing up for attention”, and claimed lesbians aren’t real, just “confused straight women.” 

He was permanently banned from Twitter and Facebook for violating hate speech rules and is now relegated to fringe social media platforms Gab, Parler and Telegram, but says he’s “getting close to quitting” as he cannot build a sufficient audience there.

On September 9, Yiannopoulos complained to his few remaining followers through a series of Telegram posts in which he ‘threatens’ to leave social media entirely.

He wrote: “Microscopic followings like 20k are not going to sustain people like me.

“It’s just not a good use of my time to be here. Talking to the same 1,000 people, none of whom buy books, tickets to anything or donate.

“Views on my posts have crashed down to 2 or 3k total. Channel keeps getting muted. I’m close to quitting.”

As his Telegram rant appears to grow more desperate, Yiannopoulos alleges that he lost 4 million fans in the “last round of bans.” This is likely referring to Twitter’s closure of 70 million fake or suspicious accounts.

Milo Yiannopoulos (Michael Masters/Getty)

“I spent years growing and developing and investing in my fan base and they just took it away in a flash. This 19k bullshit here is not going to cut it,” he moaned. “I can’t make a career out of a handful of people like that. I can’t put food on the table this way.”

He continued: “There’s no future to Telegram for social media refugees if this is the best it gets. I’ll just retire from social media entirely tbh.

“It’s pathetic. So demoralising. I’m not going to waste myself on an audience of 2,000. I just refuse.”

Twitter users had little sympathy for the far-right political commentator, with many seeing it as proof of the effectiveness of deplatforming.

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