Vice Media issued a lengthy apology on Saturday after the New York Times reported that the company had paid out at least four sexual harassment settlements involving Vice employees in the last decade, including one last year involving the company’s current president Andrew Creighton.
“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,” wrote Vice co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi in a public note to Vice employees.
“We understand that this had an impact on current and former employees at VICE, and we want to express our deepest apologies to them, as well as our extreme regret for our role in perpetuating sexism in the media industry and society in general.”
In their note, Smith and Alvi also announced a number of steps the company would take to improve on the issue going forward, including the creation of a “Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board” and reiterating a commitment to achieving gender pay parity by 2018.
On Saturday the New York Times dropped its long, long awaited investigation into Vice’s culture of workplace harassment and the results were damning.
According to the Times, at least 20 women said they were subjected to or witnessed sexual harassment at the company.
The paper also reported that Creighton paid $135,000 to a former Vice employee after she said she was terminated after rejecting his suggestion they have a romantic relationship.
You can read the full Times story here.