Milo Yiannopoulos speaks during a press conference in New York City. Picture: Drew Angerer

The Trump-loving, gay, conservative firebrand has had what his detractors could accurately describe as a stunning fall from grace, which culminated this morning with him being forced out of his job as tech editor at controversial right-wing news site Breitbart.

In part, due to what he described as “imprecise language”.

The self proclaimed “virtuous troll” has been accused of inciting hatred towards feminists, trans people and the Black Lives Matter movement, promoting white nationalists ideas, and has been banished from Twitter.

But it was remarks he made in a podcast about underage sex that prompted a new level of backlash against the 33-year-old.

On Tuesday a clip from last year was widely circulated in which Mr Yiannopoulos flippantly said young boys “discover who they are” through relationships with older men, later implying that those relationships can be sexual in nature.

For him, it was the choice of a single word that brought him undone.

“I shouldn’t have used the word boy,” he said during a lengthy press conference this morning announcing he was leaving Breitbart.

“Gay men often use the word boy or girl to mean men of consenting age. But I understand how heterosexual people may not have realised that and that was an error,” he said.

Milo Yiannopoulos was uncharacteristically subdued during the press conference. Picture: Drew AngererSource:AFP

“I’m certainly guilty of imprecise language, which I regret. But anyone who suggests I turn a blind eye to illegal activity or the abuse of minors is unequivocally wrong.”

After the video was circulated this week, Mr Yiannopoulos was uninvited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), had his book deal revoked by publisher Simon & Schuster, and staff at Breitbart reportedly threatened to walk out unless he was fired.

Yiannopoulos read from a prepared statement before taking questions from the media.Source:AFP

“I don’t believe sex with 13-year-olds is OK. When I mentioned the number 13, I was talking about myself and the age I lost my virginity. It might strike some Americans as unusual or strange but in my mother’s native Germany the age of consent is 14 — we have a different approach sometimes to these things in Europe.”

Mr Yiannopoulos opened his remarks to reporters by saying two men, including a priest, had touched him inappropriately when he was between the ages of 13 and 16.

“My experiences as a victim led me to believe I could say anything I wanted to on this subject, no matter how outrageous,” he said.

For some, the press conference by an uncharacteristically subdued Mr Yiannopoulos was worthy of praise.

However others were quick to point out the intolerant messages he is frequently accused of championing, with many cheering his apparent demise.

Plenty of social media users were also keen to point out the link between the controversial journalist and Breitbart’s former executive chairman, Steve Bannon, who is now a highly controversial senior adviser to US President Donald Trump.

Before this controversy, Mr Yiannopoulos was perhaps best known for getting banned from Twitter for helping to lead an online harassment campaign against comedian and Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones.

Early in February, he was scheduled to give a talk at the University of California, Berkeley, but the speech was cancelled after violent protests from students.

Mr Yiannopoulos has appeared, until now, to revel in those controversies and has portrayed himself as a champion of free speech. Wednesday’s apology, he said, was the first he’d ever made.

Still, the video clips, he insisted, had been edited to remove important context. He characterised media reporting on the tapes as unfair and inaccurate.

Despite his rare apology, Mr Yiannopoulos remained defiant in arguably his most ardent cause: free speech and the right to offend.

“I will never stop making jokes about taboo subjects,” he said.

Mr Yiannopoulos said his book had already received interest from other publishers and would still come out this year. He pledged to donate 10 per cent of the proceeds to child sex abuse charities.

He also said the flare-up over remarks made a year ago “is a cynical media witch hunt from people who do not care about children. They care about destroying me and my career and, by extension, my allies.”

- With AP