Shane Smith is preparing to relaunch the Vice News brand, years after the company went bankrupt. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Vice founder and media world enfant terrible Shane Smith is shopping a book, publishing sources exclusively tells Page Six Hollywood.
Smith is penning the book about Vice while simultaneously preparing to relaunch the once high-flying Vice News banner.
A Vice rep did not get back to us yesterday, and it’s unclear what Smith would include in the book. But the wild ride of Vice’s staggering ascent and crash — as well as its current attempt at a comeback — would certainly make for a compelling tale, and possibly even a wild biopic.
Smith — who’s been known for his party hearty ways, as well as his sway with deep-pocketed moguls — built Vice into a full-fledged media concern from a free Montreal-based DIY punk magazine distributed in clothing stores. The company ended up being reportedly valued at almost $6 billion in 2017 — but by 2023, it had filed for bankruptcy.
Vice’s wild, globe-trotting scoops included trailing controversial NBA star Dennis Rodman to North Korea to meet with basketball fanatic and global despot Kim Jong-un, and embedding a reporter with the Islamic State in Iraq.
The company’s leaders publicly apologized in 2017 after a New York Times investigation reported on the company’s alleged “toxic environment” for women execs and staffers. “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,” said a Vice statement responding to the piece.
At its peak, the company had 34 bureaus globally, multiple foreign-language editions and a “Vice News” show on HBO.
Smith launched a podcast, “Shane Smith Has Questions,” in 2024.
On the personal side, Smith put his 14,000- square-foot LA estate, Villa Ruchello, on the market in 2021 for $50 million. It was said to be one of Santa Monica’s largest properties at the time.
More recently, the divorced media figure has been said to be residing in Malibu, where he’s been spotted with fellow wild child journo Olivia Nuzzi, after the pair met in April at a book party.
But Vice insiders told Page Six previously that Nuzzi isn’t being considered for a job at the new Vice News, and that Smith is “a single guy,” perhaps indicating that they’re not an item. Nuzzi and Smith have not commented on the relationship.
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