Vice Media CEO Assures Staff That Founder Gavin McInnes, Who Also Launched Proud Boys, Has No Ties to Company Anymore

Vice Media CEO Nancy Dubuc emailed her global staff Wednesday night to assure them that Vice founder Gavin McInnes –who also launched the Proud Boys — no longer has anything to do with the company.

Her email came one day after President Trump said the hate group should “stand back and stand by” during Tuesday night’s debate.

“I’m sure we’re all still trying to make some sense of what was said in last night’s U.S. Presidential debate, but I wanted to write to you to make one thing clear: Gavin McInnes has no affiliation with Vice. While the legacy of his role in founding the company swirls up from time to time – I want you all to be assured that any association he had with the company ended more than a decade ago in 2008,” Dubuc wrote in the email.

“What he did after that – including founding the Proud Boys in 2016 –  had nothing to do with Vice, our values or our people,” she went on. “I hope that our work, our culture and our leadership speak for itself unequivocally, but let me say – to leave no shred of doubt – we all condemn white supremacy, racism and hate in every form.”

Dubuc went on to praise Vice for “holding the Proud Boys and other similar groups accountable through dogged and unflinching investigative journalism” and producing extensive coverage of the alt-right.

She told staffers that if anyone gives them “a hard time” about McInnes, she’d be “happy to set the record straight.”

During Tuesday’s debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump, “Are you willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and say they need to stand down and not to add to the violence in these cities as we saw in Kenosha and in Portland?”

“Sure, I’m willing to do that,” Trump said. But when Wallace asked him to do so, Trump deflected and said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.”

Members of the neofascist, SPLC-designated hate group celebrated online after Trump declined to condemn white supremacists and militia groups.

“Trump basically said to go f– them up! this makes me so happy,” Joe Biggs, an organizer for the group, wrote on Parler.

“I will stand down sir!!!” Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys chairman, also wrote on Parler. “Standing by sir. So Proud of my guys right now.”