Who is Christopher LaVoie? Man behind ‘4 Days’ reality shows has history of run-ins with police, dubious business ventures
If you’ve watched the reality TV show “The 4th Day” and its “4 Days in Hell” spinoff, “4 Days in Heaven,” you know LaVoie is a personable and articulate show runner and producer. He may or may not also be “The Guy Who Runs Reality TV,” but he’s no stranger to controversy for his shows, which were initially conceived as a means of promoting a new book project titled “4 Days in Hell on the Planet Earth.”
LaVoie, though, isn’t quite the one-liner kind of businessman. The son of the late singer/producer and co-founder of the “MTV” network Jerry LaJoie, the 30-year old Montreal-based media man has a long, not-always-convincing history of run-ins with the law that started as a young man. (As an example, that’s what LaJoie’s son’s Wikipedia page says about the younger La Voie.)
He’s also built some pretty interesting businesses throughout his life. On the “4 Days in Hell” series, he took control of a large swatch of land in Eastern Massachusetts, dubbed “Hell” and populated with more than 200 families that he had no connection to, and turned it into a resort that served liquor, adult videos, video poker, barbecues, a casino and even a few strip clubs. In 2011, a federal jury found LaVoie illegally evicted his former tenants, and sentenced the company “Hell-O” (a reference to the title of the book) to pay nearly $400,000 in penalties and fines. That same year, LaVoie was charged for defrauding investors in a property development scheme. He’s also been charged for driving under the influence; he spent the night in jail in one conviction, and also served time in another.
This isn’t the first time LaVoie has ruffled the feathers of the law. Just a few weeks ago, “Hell-O” was found in a parking lot in Danvers by state and local authorities, who believe La