Vice Media President Andrew Creighton Resigns Months After Harassment Investigation

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Vice Media president Andrew Creighton has left the company, coming nearly a year after it was revealed that he paid a former employee to settle a claim about sexual harassment, Variety has confirmed.

According to an exposé by the New York Times  published last December, Creighton paid $135,000 in 2016 to an ex-Vice employee after she alleged she was fired after rejecting his suggestion they have a romantic relationship.

A Vice spokesman declined to comment. Creighton’s exit was first reported by THR .

In March, former A+E Networks CEO  Nancy Dubuc was named CEO of Vice Media , while co-founder Shane Smith shifted into a new role as executive chairman. Creighton’s departure is part of Dubuc’s efforts to clean house and move forward with a new senior management team, which includes  Dominique Delport, former global managing director at Havas Group who joined Vice as president of international and chief revenue officer shortly after Dubuc’s hire.

After the Times story broke, Vice in January suspended Creighton and chief digital officer Mike Germano , who was also accused of several instances of sexual harassment. Germano was fired later that month .

In a January memo from Vice COO/CFO Sarah Broderick to the company’s staff, she wrote that the claim against Creighton was reviewed in 2016 by an independent law firm and was “found to lack merit, but the company agreed to settle the matter in order to avoid the expense and distraction of litigation.” While Creighton’s employment status was under review, he had been on leave.

Creighton co-founded the U.K. arm of in 2001 with Andy Capper. Capper, former longtime global editor-in-chief of Vice magazine, left the company in December 2017. In 2010, Creighton moved from London to the company’s Brooklyn headquarters. Vice in 2012 acquired British style magazine i-D, where Creighton had previously worked as head of advertising.