Eddie Huang came to the Toronto Film Festival on Thursday night to applaud and praise Vice.
Eddie Huang looks back on the wild days of Vice
The author, chef and former host of the bankrupt media show "Huang's World" was on hand with his new documentary, "Vice Is Broke." The film serves as both an ode to Vice's anarchic spirit and the generations of aggressive, boundary-pushing, groundbreaking journalists and filmmakers it employed, as well as a darker look at the greed and questionable ethics that helped it fall into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. And Huang, who says he was forgiven an NDA he signed in exchange for unpaid residuals, made it clear that Vice, or what's left of it, isn't too happy with what he's created.
“Their lawyers are still trying to fight us with this film,” Huang said during a question-and-answer session after the documentary’s premiere at TIFF Lightbox Cinema. He added that Shane Smith, the colorful and controversial Vice co-founder whose bad-boy reputation helped attract hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from media companies like Disney and Discovery, declined his requests for an interview. Huang made it clear that he does not condone Smith’s leadership style or his behavior after Vice filed for bankruptcy and agreed to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group and a consortium of investors.
"He threatened legal action," Huang said. "They sent legal letters. You know, Shane is, to put it bluntly, a coward. He has abandoned all of his friends and colleagues."
