Bad Trips
How I Went from VICE Reporter to International Drug Smuggler
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- 7,99 €
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- 7,99 €
Publisher Description
The true story of a music editor at VICE who tried to become the coolest reporter the company had ever had — by becoming an international drug smuggler.
In 2019, music reporter Slava P, an editor for VICE media, was sentenced to nine years in prison for recruiting friends into a scheme to smuggle cocaine from the U.S. into Australia. Five of them were already in jail. Immediately, Slava P was internationally infamous. Was he a victim of pressure to commit extreme acts for the sake of a good story? A product of a drug-obsessed work environment? Or a manipulator who pushed vulnerable young people into crime?
Here, Slava P tells his side of the story: what exactly happened and how the precarious, dog-eat-dog atmosphere of a media company can lead the young, the naive, and the ambitious into taking crazy risks.
Bad Trips is a story about drugs, hip-hop, influencers, and glamour, set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most influential news and entertainment sites, VICE. Its cast of beautiful young people and semi-famous rappers passes from the seediest apartments to the most elegant of private clubs. Slava P’s chronicling of his years at this famous hotbed of excess is a piercing insight into contemporary media culture.
All royalties from the sale of Bad Trips go to co-author Brian Whitney.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pastuk debuts with a riveting cautionary tale. A Ukrainian-born Canadian, the rap-loving, wannabe journalism star Pastuk found some traction on Twitter and for his music blog posts, which put him on the radar of Vice. In 2013 at age 22, he became the online publisher's music editor and led a life of drugs, drink, and hobnobbing with music celebs. But the pay was so dismal he started selling weed to make ends meet. Ultimately, he fell in with international drug dealers connected to a Mexican cartel, and he traveled to Australia to traffic millions of dollars of cocaine. When he returned home, he blew the $10,000 he received and began to recruit others to help out. After his roommate and four others were arrested in Australia and turned on him, the RCMP arrested Pastuk. He pleaded guilty in 2019 and was sentenced to almost nine years in prison. In scorching prose, Pastuk takes full responsibility for his actions, noting "I am not a victim of anyone but myself." This account of how he lost his career and reputation for a walk on the dark side will strike a nerve with anyone who's ever considered chasing fame for the sake of fame.
