Financier Bob Mercer is sharply distancing himself from Breitbart News and Steve Bannon. But the biggest news is that Mercer is taking an ax to his relationship with conservative bad boy Milo Yiannopoulos.
Besides Bannon, like a hot potato, he’s dropping them all — but pointedly Yiannopoulos.
Mercer said he’s selling his remaining investment in Breitbart News to his daughters, Rebekah, Heather and Jennifer.
In a statement released by Bloomberg Businessweek‘s Joshua Green — who wrote Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency — Mercer saved his most pointed remarks for Yiannopoulos.
“In my opinion, actions of and statements by Mr. Yiannopoulos have caused pain and divisiveness undermining the open and productive discourse that I had hoped to facilitate. I was mistaken to have supported him, and for several weeks have been in the process of severing all ties with him.”
Mercer added, “For personal reasons, I have also decided to sell my stake in Breitbart News to my daughters.”
Yiannopoulos told The Mirror by text, “I am grateful for Bob’s help in getting me this far in my career. I wish him and the family all the best.”
A day ago, Yiannopoulos landed back home at Miami International Airport, according to his Instagram account. And from the likes of his social media, he has been crisscrossing the country making TV and school appearances.
He even found time to weigh in on Kevin Spacey coming out of the closet amid allegations that he had molested a teen.
“I am disgusted by Kevin Spacey’s shallow, transparent attempt to cloak himself in gay privilege as a way of distracting us from allegations he tried to seduce a 14-year-old child,” Yiannopoulos wrote on Instagram.
“In his apology, Spacey is trying to say that because he is gay he should be treated with kid gloves. No. I don’t care if he’s gay — and everyone knew that anyway. What I want to know is how many young boys he has harmed or attempted to harm. This is why identity politics is so poisonous: it seeks to establish separate rules for separate groups based on perceived, or more often simply imaginary, victimhood. Gay people should be held to the same standards as everyone else.”
See Mercer’s full statement below:
Wow, incredible statement from Bob Mercer — on Bannon, Milo, Breitbart: pic.twitter.com/6oSPpYlB7o
— Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) November 2, 2017
In a Vanity Fair story last month, writer Tina Nguyen explained the Mercers’ fascinating funding of Yiannopoulos like this: “In keeping with their goal to construct a parallel cultural universe, the Mercers, according to one person with direct knowledge of their fund-raising activities, were curious to see whether Yiannopoulos could create a media empire that could bring in younger voters, make money, anddrive a wedge in the culture war.”
As long as Yiannopoulos continued to draw the ire of feminists, she explained, the Mercers were on board and could ignore the pedophilia video, bragging about prostitution and ties to white nationalists.
A hint that all was not well in Milo-Mercer paradise was a line from an anonymous source who has “worked closely” with Yiannopoulos.
“‘I don’t know what’s going to break the Mercers, to wake them up,’ said one person who worked closely with Yiannopoulos. ‘That’s a mistake they’re going to have to make for themselves. But I can guarantee you, that money is not being used efficiently. It’s not being used responsibly. It’s basically party money.'”