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Gavin McInnes

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Gavin Miles McInnes is a Canadian writer, podcaster, and political commentator.

Gavin McInnes at SXSW
Gavin McInnes at SXSW

He is known for co-founding Vice magazine and for founding the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys is an American far-right organization for men. Some organizations, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, classify the group as a hate group. After McInnes left the organization, Canada and New Zealand designated it a terrorist group. McInnes has disputed these labels. He identifies himself as a libertarian and a fiscal conservative.

McInnes was born on July 17, 1970, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. His parents, James and Loraine McInnes, were Scottish. His father worked for a Canadian defense company called Gallium Visual Systems Inc. When McInnes was four years old, his family moved to Ottawa, Ontario. He attended Earl of March Secondary School and later graduated from Carleton University. As a teenager, he played music in an Ottawa punk band called Anal Chinook.

His professional career began in 1994 at a Montreal magazine called Voice. This publication was started by Interimages Communications through a Quebec government job program. The magazine helped social welfare recipients gain work experience. McInnes worked there as an assistant editor and a cartoonist under Suroosh Alvi. In 1996, McInnes, Alvi, and Shane Smith bought the magazine. They renamed it Vice to focus on Montreal's alternative culture, including music and art.

Gavin McInnes at SXSW
Gavin McInnes at SXSW

Vice eventually moved its operations to New York City in 2001. During his time there, McInnes became a famous figure in the New York hipster subculture. He contributed articles and co-authored books like "The Vice Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll." He also helped write "Vice Dos and Don'ts." In 2002, he made controversial comments about white hipsters in the New York Press. He later claimed the interview was a prank meant to mock traditional media. Vice issued an apology after a reader complained about his comments.

McInnes left Vice in 2008 due to what he called "creative differences." He stated that the company was being too influenced by corporate advertising. After leaving, he worked in several different media roles. He created the website StreetCarnage.com and helped run an advertising agency called Rooster. He also did voice acting for the Adult Swim show Soul Quest Overdrive. In 2012, he published a memoir titled "How to Piss in Public." He also directed a documentary about his comedy tour called "The Brotherhood of the Traveling Rants."

In 2016, McInnes founded the Proud Boys. This organization has been the subject of significant controversy. In 2018, Twitter permanently suspended McInnes and the Proud Boys' account. The company cited rules against violent extremist groups. This happened around the time of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. In October 2018, members of the Proud Boys were filmed beating a protester in New York. McInnes later left Rebel News in 2017 to pursue a different media path. He hosted a program called "Get Off My Lawn" on Compound Media.

McInnes has faced many restrictions from digital platforms. In 2018, he was banned from Facebook and Instagram. He was also denied a visa to enter Australia because authorities judged him to be of "bad character." An online campaign called "#BanGavin" collected 81,000 signatures against his entry. In 2018, he was also removed from Blaze Media. In June 2020, YouTube suspended his account. YouTube stated his content glorified and incited violence against certain groups. McInnes has argued that these actions are part of a concerted effort to remove his voice.

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