Watch: Vice Execs Abruptly End Staff Meeting Over Thumbs Down Emojis

Vice Media abruptly ended a virtual town hall on Wednesday morning after laid-off staffers flooded the screen with thumbs down emojis, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported in Wednesday evening’s edition of Reliable Sources. Following the news that Vice would lay off hundreds of employees and cease publishing, executives invited staff to the online event but as COO Cory Haik spoke, the angry emoji reactions poured in, as Darcy reported, leading to CEO Bruce Dixon ditching the meeting altogether. Video from the meeting, posted to TikTok by user bobbymang666 and shared online by current and former Vice staffers, appears to confirm Darcy’s reporting that Dixon interrupted Haik’s remarks to end the meeting. “It’s impossible to ignore the emojis from our side,” he said, “and I think we’re going to organize this in a way where we can actually give the information to the people who want to receive it in the way it’s meant.” In a statement to CNN, a Vice Media spokesperson wrote that “It is unfortunate that employees remaining with the organization who greatly want to contribute to its success were sabotaged by a few bad actors. We understand that emotions are running high after such a significant change to the company and will continue to communicate. Our strategic vision moving forward is the right one for Vice.”