The man who served as the public face for Vice Media was living it up in a $23 million Santa Monica compound while his employees were reportedly being underpaid.
Shane Smith bought the property known as Villa Ruchello in Santa Monica back in 2015, which is located on 3.35 acres of land and had been previously featured in the television series Entourage.
He and his wife then put millions more into renovating the three homes on the property, which total 14,000 square feet and features 12 bedrooms, 12.5 bathrooms. a pool and stunning views.
The same year he bought the compound, Smith also dropped $300,000 on steak and sushi at Bellagio’s Prime Steakhouse in Vegas.
This as The New York Times on Saturday released an expose on the company – which was recently valued at $5.7 billion – and its toxic work environment, where multiple women report that they were grossly underpaid.
Shane Smith bought Villa Ruchello in Santa Monica back in 2015 for $23 million
He and his wife then put millions more into renovating the three homes on the property
The three homes total 14,000 square feet and features 12 bedrooms, 12.5 bathrooms, a pool and stunning views
The property is located on 3.35 acres of land and had been previously featured in the television series Entourage
‘There is a toxic environment where men can say the most disgusting things, joke about sex openly, and overall a toxic environment where women are treated far inferior than men,’ former Vice employee Sandra Miller told the Times.
‘The misogyny might look different than you would have expected it to in the 1950s, but it was still there, it was still ingrained,’ said Kayla Ruble, another former employee.
‘This is a wakeup call.’
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Robyn Kanner has been tweeting a list of what she claims are complaints about the company coming straight from past and present employees at Vice.
Vice claims that they have now made a commitment to ‘reaching gender pay parity by the end of 2018, expanded maternity and paternity benefits, and introduced mandatory respect and sensitivity training for all employees.’
It was also reported by the Times that there were at least four settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees, including the current president, Andrew Creighton.
The Times spoke with more than two dozen women who say they experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct at the company, which has grown from a fringe Canadian culture magazine to a major news outlet.
The alleged episodes included groping and forced kisses.
Smith and Vice are now dealing with the fallout from an expose in The New York Times
Smith and co-founder Suroosh Alvi sent a note to staff Saturday saying the company let people down in failing to create a safe and inclusive workplace.
‘Listening to our employees over the past year, the truth is inescapable: from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive,’ read the statement.
‘Cultural elements from our past, dysfunction and mismanagement were allowed to flourish unchecked. That includes a detrimental “boy’s club” culture that fostered inappropriate behavior that permeated throughout the company.’
The statement went on to say: ‘It happened on our watch, and ultimately we let far too many people down. We are truly sorry for this.’
That statement came five years after Smith said of the company’s early days in an interview: ‘I would be at the party and would just want to get wasted, take coke and have sex with girls in the bathroom.’