What started as getting comment for an exposé on the “Billionaire” CEO of Vice Media led to their legal team contacting the police who then paid a visit to my home.

What led me to visit Vice Canada’s headquarters was a concern over the wellbeing of the employees (below); some of whom I consider my friends.

In my research I had peeked behind the mask of the Shane Smith. If the reports are true, behind the jolly big-man persona is a pernicious liar with a trail of emotional, intellectual and sexual abuse.

Vice was looking to hire me after making a parody of their HBO News series. I used to make documentaries for a living and intuitively I knew Vice wasn’t to be taken seriously. At best it’s a stepping stone to a better job, at worst you get pulled into the literal den of nefarious activities. It surprised me to know they were being taken seriously. Winning awards. It didn’t make sense.

Basically, Vice News is conflict-porn. Calling it ‘sensationalism’ would be a compliment. What I have fact-checked turned out to be poorly sourced, completely fabricated or wholly inaccurate. Vice has few rules and no code of ethics. Vice cannot love.

As with any good investigation you have to follow the money. What I found was a Potemkin Village. A gigantic disparity between what Vice says (more views on vice.com than YouTube) and what reverse-engineering share statistics indicates (way fewer views on vice.com than on YouTube). If my numbers are accurate; the only explanation for their valuation is control fraud. The man in control: Shane Smith.

Vice is created in the image of its creator: paranoid and litigious. Employees e-mails are spied on, those who leave are afraid to speak on the record. Shane says they are the “Time Warner of the streets” and it’s no surprise they have the same loyalty/fear structure of organized crime.

Note: Time Warner ended talks of investing but Murdoch bought in. Fox News of the streets?