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Right wing agitator Milo Yiannopoulos ‘talks a lot of sense’, says Troll Academy tour publicist Max Markson

PR agent Max Markson is working with Penthouse Australia to promote Milo Yiannopoulos’ forthcoming ‘Troll Academy’ Australian tour with the publicity veteran insisting the right wing agitator “talks a lot of sense”.

Yiannopoulos’ December tour will see him appearing in Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Markson described it “an exciting project” and brushed aside the often extreme and divisive nature of Yiannopoulos’s rants.

“The world has changed over the last two years with Brexit and Donald Trump and I think Milo talks a lot of common sense, as does Andrew Bolt and Mark Latham,” he told Mumbrella.  “Milo is amazing. He is incredibly articulate, witty, funny and politically incorrect.”

Yiannopoulos has courted controversy and sparked outrage with his often-extreme views on a range of sensitive issues.

He has been banned from Twitter and was forced to quit his job as Breitbart earlier this year – and had a book deal withdrawn – following comments he made about paedophilia.

Asked whether he was comfortable promoting a character associated with offensive material, Markson said: “I am a publicist, that what I do for a living and have done for 40 years.”

Yiannopoulos is a publicists’ dream, he said, with a host of media outlets already queuing up to interview the former technology journalist.

His appeal straddles all demographics, Markson added, with Yiannopoulos lined up to appear on a diverse range of radio stations and shows, including the Kyle and Jackie O show on Kiss.

“He’s a rock star,” Markson said, adding that Yiannopoulos should come on stage to the Billy Joel track ‘We didn’t start the fire’.

“It should actually be changed to ‘I didn’t start the fire’,” he said.

The publicist rejected any suggestions that Yiannopoulos’s appearance will spark protests across Australia, saying it was “not the Australian thing to do”.

“It’s not that important,” he said. “There are keyboard warriors and there will be outrage at first and then people will go to the beach as we do in Australia.

“I don’t think there will be protests and people won’t get out of bed for anti Milo parades.”

He said the interest has already resulted in “enormous” ticket sales.

Markson’s job in promoting the tour comes after he told Mumbrella 360 earlier this year that “the truth doesn’t matter anymore” in a post Trump world.

“We don’t care about the truth anymore we just care about the biggest voice and the loudest voices,” he told the audience during a PR crisis simulation.

Penthouse (Australia & New Zealand) publisher Damien Costas defended the decision to bring Yiannopoulos to Australia.

“Penthouse has championed the right to free speech for over 50 years,” he said. “The magazine was founded in 1965 during the sexual revolution, and through its investigative reporting and irreverent editorial, it fought for progressive causes including women’s rights, civil rights, the rights of Vietnam Veterans and helped changed the world – none of which could have been possible without our right to free speech.

“Whether it was Martin Luther King and the freedom riders in the 1960’s or Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017, free speech is part of Australia’s robust democracy and the cornerstone of Western civilisation.  Penthouse is proud to be bringing Milo’s Troll Academy Tour to Australia.”

Penthouse is no stranger to controversy having been accused by former staff and freelances last year of not paying wages and superannuation entitlements.

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