What happens to big-league books when scandal knocks

THIS TIME LAST YEAR, MILO YIANNOPOULOS HAD a reported six-figure book deal to air out his controversial far-right views. And then, very publicly, he didn’t. In February, Simon & Schuster canceled Dangerous after Yiannopoulos’ more inflammatory comments—including one in which he appeared to defend pedophilia—pushed over the edge a public that had already been agitating. Ten months later, he has sued his publisher—and found himself surrounded by new pariahs.

Yiannopoulos is part of a trend of writers being scrapped by their publishers over matters of personal accountability. In October, Hachette announced that it would discontinue its Weinstein Books imprint, absorbing the titles published by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein into another imprint. The same month, Penguin Random House canceled Mark Halperin’s book about the 2016 election after allegations of sexual harassment against Halperin emerged.