British right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to entries in the agency’s records. The 41-year-old former Breitbart News editor and former employee of rapper Kanye West is listed in an ICE inmate registry search as being held in Louisiana, the records indicate. ICE and Yiannopoulos have not responded to requests for comment from the BBC, and the circumstances of the detention were unclear. His name and British nationality appear in a search of detainees across the United States. Where Yiannopoulos Is ListedYiannopoulos, who has been living in the United States, appears under the agency’s records with British origins. The reference to his detention comes from an online search of the ICE inmate registry, which shows his location in Louisiana. No additional details about the reasons for detention were given in the records, and neither ICE nor Yiannopoulos has provided an explanation. Trump Campaign Booster, Later Break From MovementYiannopoulos grew up in Kent in southern England before moving to the US. He was an early supporter of Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign and took part in an event called Gays for Trump during the Republican National Convention that year. After moving away from parts of Trump’s political movement, Yiannopoulos continued to support the Republican president’s agenda. Last year, he posted on X calling for “Total legal immunity for ICE agents when they’re on duty”. In March this year, he wrote on X that Trump “has lost his way, bought off by foreign interests”. Criticism Over Comments And Self-Described IdentityYiannopoulos has repeatedly attracted controversy for his remarks about transgender people, Muslims, Black Lives Matter, feminists and gay people, despite identifying as gay. He now describes himself as an “ex-gay”. His writing has included provocative column titles such as “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?” He has also presented himself as a provocateur, calling himself the “most fabulous supervillain on the internet”. Critics have described him as promoting hate speech. CPAC Uninvited After Footage, Then ResignationIn 2017, Yiannopoulos was uninvited from speaking at CPAC, a US conservative conference that also hosted Trump, after footage emerged in which he appeared to condone paedophilia. Yiannopoulos later apologised and resigned from Breitbart. He denied the allegations, saying he had been speaking about his own experiences as a child. He has also been regularly linked with the alt-right, a loose movement known for opposing political correctness and feminism and associated by critics and analysts with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Yiannopoulos has said he does not see himself as part of the alt-right, although he has described it as “energising and exciting”. Join the discussion? 29 August 2026
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