Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been fired from the informal 2024 presidential campaign of Ye, the music star formerly known as Kanye West.
Yiannopoulos’s ouster follows a string of disastrous media appearances for the disgraced rapper, as well as infighting within the West orbit. Last week, Ye stormed out of an interview with YouTube personality Tim Pool and repeatedly praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in an appearance on InfoWars.
Yiannopoulos insisted he decided to leave Ye’s operation on his own.
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“Ye and I have come to the mutual conclusion that I should step away from his political team,” Yiannopoulos told The Daily Beast on Sunday afternoon. “I will continue to pray for Ye and all his endeavors.”
Yiannopoulos held a campaign manager-style role within the operation and was the first operative West brought into the fold. Following Yiannopoulos’s hire, other far-right figures, including white nationalist Nick Fuentes and racist YouTuber “Sneako” were brought on.
Unlike Fuentes and far-right activist Ali Alexander, Yiannopoulos didn’t appear during Ye’s InfoWars broadcast, an early sign that he was on his way out.
Yiannopoulos’s exit marks the latest intrigue in the rapper’s camp, where far-right activists grapple for influence over the wealthy rapper—and the private jet travel and other perks that come with it.
“It’s like Game of Thrones, and every day is the Red Wedding,” said a conservative figure familiar with the internal politics of Ye’s entourage.
Even before Yiannopoulos’s firing, tensions had become public between him and Fuentes. After Yiannopoulos told NBC News that Fuentes was brought to dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to “make Trump’s life miserable,” Fuentes contradicted him.
On Sunday afternoon, allegations emerged in far-right media that Yiannopoulos was fired after attempting to make some power “move against” Fuentes.
Yiannopoulos disputed that claim.
“Any suggestion that I tried to get anyone fired is false—especially not people I brought in myself, who owe me their gratitude, loyalty, and respect,” Yiannopoulos told The Daily Beast.
Then the far-right troll went on the attack.
“I’m not in the least bit drawn in by perks and private jets,” Yiannopoulos said. “Maybe the others are.”
Fuentes didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
While allegations circle about why the far-right troll was given the boot, Yiannopoulos claimed to The Daily Beast that he had “concerns about a potential new hire” but wouldn’t name the individual in question.
Yiannopoulos was an odd fit for Ye’s camp in part because he had a history of bashing the rapper before joining him. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is feuding with Yiannopoulos, recently leaked direct messages that purport to show Yiannopoulos insisting that Ye is gay.
Yiannopoulos also has a history of secretly recording his one-time allies, once boasting that he has a hard drive full of compromising phone calls and other information on every “public figure” he had ever interacted with.
