Once Renegade Vice Anxiously Awaits Its Private Equity Overlords

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Once Renegade Vice Anxiously Awaits Its Private Equity Overlords

It’s been striking to watch the evolution of Vice—from a cool, free magazine I used to pick up at Reel Life in Williamsburg to a platform for gonzo war reporting to a TV-and-digital juggernaut that became the darling of media giants. Now the onetime renegade, Joe Pompeo reports, is prepping for a sale to “faceless private equity sharks and investment managers.” As one Vice vet put it, “You have one of the most wild, historic, rollicking brands of the last 50 years, and now Fortress owns it?”

With Ron DeSantis moving closer to officially getting in the 2024 race, Molly Jong-Fast noted this week how the Florida governor still can’t admit Donald Trump fairly lost the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Bess Levin found the former president, who brags about killing Roe v. Wade, claiming he could make a nationwide “deal” on abortion if elected again.

Plus, Brian Stelter led an Inside the Hive chat about the right-wing media upstarts trying to outfox Fox News, and Charlotte Klein spoke to CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz about the network’s special tomorrow night on Uvalde. Thanks for reading, and see you Monday.

—Michael Calderone, editor

Once Renegade Vice Anxiously Awaits Its Private Equity Overlords

“You have one of the most wild, historic, rollicking brands of the last 50 years, and now Fortress owns it?” says one Vice veteran. Still, insiders aren’t ruling out that a better offer may yet come along. (And Shane Smith has remarked to some that he would “take back the company.”)

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