In February an advertiser who sponsored one of Vice’s verticals told me her company was quietly withdrawing. The reasons were complicated. It wasn’t the sexual misconduct per se. “The culture felt a bit like a forced effort to reproduce a Hunter S. Thompson vibe,” she said. “It grew even more contrived, and there were no women at the table, which goes beyond misogynistic. We have largely walked away, although in truth, I’m not sure Shane knows it.”
