Taki Theodoracopulos

Panagiotis "Taki" Theodoracopulos (/ˌθiːədɔːrəˈkɒpələs/; Greek: Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Θεοδωρακόπουλος [panaˈʝotis ˈtacis θeoðoraˈkopulos]; born 11 August 1936) is a Greek writer and publisher who founded Taki's Magazine and co-founded The American Conservative. His column "High Life" appeared in British weekly The Spectator from 1977 to 2023. He has lived in New York City, London, and Gstaad.

The son of a Greek shipping magnate, Theodoracopulos was privately educated in the United States at Lawrenceville School and Blair Academy before attending the University of Virginia.

Theodoracopulos was a sportsman early in life. He represented Greece at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1962, having been a tennis player beforehand, including playing at the 1961 French Championship.

Theodoracopulos's column "High Life" appeared in British weekly The Spectator between 1977 and 2023, expressing sometimes controversial opinions, including the claim that black people had lower IQs than other people, for which Boris Johnson, made editor in 1999, later apologised. He has also written for other US and UK publications, including Esquire, Hamptons Magazine, Newsweek, the New York Press, The Sunday Times, and Vanity Fair.

In 1984, Theodoracopulos was arrested for the possession of cocaine, after attempting to board a plane at Heathrow Airport, and served three months in HMP Pentonville. He documented his prison experiences in Nothing to Declare: Prison Memoirs (1991) and discussed them in an extended appearance on the British television programme After Dark.

In 2002, Theodoracopulos founded The American Conservative magazine with Pat Buchanan and Scott McConnell. He was also the publisher of the British magazine Right Now!^{[citation needed]} He currently publishes and writes for Taki's Magazine. In 2016, the organization Proud Boys was launched with an article in Taki's Magazine by Gavin McInnes.

In 2004, The Guardian criticised Theodoracopulos for expressing racist views directed against West Indians, Puerto Ricans, and Jews, among others. He has used the racial epithets "nigger" and "Sambo" to describe black people and he referred to Saudi royal family members as "ruling towelheads".

Theodoracopulos appeared in the 2013 James Toback film Seduced and Abandoned as himself.