Milo Yiannopoulos has slammed some of Australia’s highest-paid journalists and says they are ‘too cowardly’ to interview a ‘gay guy with different opinions’.
The right-wing firebrand claims a string of the country’s most popular television programs have cancelled interviews ahead of his Australian tour.
‘Waleed Aly, Karl Stefanovic and Jessica Rowe are too scared to interview me. That’s the only conclusion I can draw,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘These are some of the highest-paid, highest-profile and supposedly brave journalists in the country.
Milo Yiannopoulos has slammed some of Australia’s highest-paid journalists and says they are ‘too cowardly’ to interview a ‘gay guy with different opinions’
The right-wing firebrand (pictured during a rally in September) claims a string of the country’s most popular television programs have cancelled interviews ahead of his Australian tour
‘But they’re frightened of debating a gay guy with opinions that differ from theirs – in their own studios, on their own home turf. What’s going on?’
He said Channel Ten’s The Project organised to interview him via satellite before the program told him they would prefer to have him in the studio when he arrived in Australia.
After Yiannopoulos agreed to both interviews, he said the producers told him they were ‘too busy this week’ and cancelled.
‘Hang on a minute. I thought The Project was a current affairs show? How can they know they are too busy a week in advance?’ he questioned.
Waleed Aly (pictured right) and Karl Stefanovic were among the Australian journalists Yiannopoulos claimed ‘are scared’ to interview him
Yiannopoulos said he agreed to interviews on The Project before producers told him they were ‘too busy this week’ and cancelled
He also claimed Studio 10 cancelled a follow up interview after his now famous exchange with Jessica Rowe.
The Channel Ten presenter told Yiannopoulos she was a proud feminist before he responded: ‘I’m sure they’ll cure you soon, there’s chemotherapy for that.’
‘The interview went viral, and the Studio 10 people said they would love to have me back in person when I arrived down under,’ Yiannopoulos said.
‘But guess what? Now they’re saying sorry, we can’t fit you in. And then there’s Channel 9’s Today show, which confirmed a live satellite interview with me on November 7.
Yiannopoulos also claimed Studio 10 cancelled a follow up interview after his now famous exchange with Jessica Rowe
‘At the last minute, they cancelled, saying they wanted their superstar $3m-a-year anchor Karl Stefanovic to interview me.
‘Naturally, I said fine. But… yes, you’ve guessed it. My publicist was informed last Friday that Karl is away, so the interview won’t happen.
‘I’m not so cynical and conspiratorial that I think Stefanovic has abruptly gone on vacation to avoid doing the interview, but it makes you think.’
Yiannopoulos said his experience showed two facts about Australia’s ‘politically-correct media’.
‘Firstly, that Australia’s press is irretrievably left-wing, infested with bien pensant feminists and hand-wringers. In other words, your media establishment doesn’t serve at least half the population, because it is biased,’ he said.
‘Secondly, your journalists and TV hosts are cowards. It’s amazing that Australia’s media is running scared of a harmless homosexual who happens to have some different ideas.
‘Hang on a minute. I thought The Project was a current affairs show?’ Yiannopoulos said of the Channel Ten program after claiming it had cancelled his interview. Host Waleed Aly is pictured
Yiannopoulos (pictured) said Australia’s ‘politically-correct media’ is ‘is irretrievably left-wing’
‘And it’s shameful, too. If I’m as much of a lightweight and a clown as they claim, they should be able to demonstrate so with a few minutes of live television.’
He added: ‘I tell the truth, not caring who hates me. That terrifies media people, because they can’t win against me with their usual weapons, which are ridicule, snobbery, name-calling and fake allegations of racism and sexism.
‘Instead, they have to make arguments. And my experiences on Australian TV so far show that your hosts aren’t very good at that.
‘They know it, too, which is why they never invite me on twice. In some cases, I’m never allowed on at all.’
Yiannopoulos, a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, labelled Australian journalists ‘cowards’