Radio host abruptly went off air last week
CBC News Posted: Oct 26, 2014 1:37 PM ET
Jian Ghomeshi helped create the cultural affairs program Q for CBC radio in 2007. (CBC) .“The CBC is saddened to announce its relationship with Jian Ghomeshi has come to an end. This decision was not made without serious deliberation and careful consideration. Jian has made an immense contribution to the CBC and we wish him well,” the network said in a statement.
CBC terminated Ghomeshi earlier on Sunday, said spokesman Chuck Thompson.
Late Sunday afternoon, Ghomeshi posted a lengthy message on his Facebook page in which he claimed that he was terminated by the broadcaster “because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.”
In the post, Ghomeshi details a relationship with a former girlfriend that apparently included “forms of BDSM,” and that he ended that relationship at the beginning of this year.
“After this, in the early spring there began a campaign of harassment, vengeance and demonization against me that would lead to months of anxiety.”
Ghomeshi said he has “always been interested in a wide variety of activities in the bedroom” but only those that are “mutually agreed upon” and “consensual.”
Ghomeshi said he has been open with CBC about the matter and that he has “never believed it was anyone’s business” what he does in his private affairs but that he wanted his bosses to be aware of the situation.
“CBC has been part of the team of friends and lawyers assembled to deal with this for months,” he wrote. “On Thursday I voluntarily showed evidence that everything I have done has been consensual. I did this in good faith and because I know, as I have always known, that I have nothing to hide. This when the CBC decided to fire me.”
Ghomeshi added that CBC executives told him “that this type of sexual behaviour was unbecoming of a prominent host on the CBC.”
He also writes in the post that the CBC received no formal complaints or allegations.
Ghomeshi was set to host the Giller Prize awards ceremony on Nov. 10, but the organization tweeted Sunday that he would no longer be fulfilling that role.
Pending lawsuit
Earlier on Sunday, Dentons Canada LLP, a law firm in Toronto, released a statement saying that Ghomeshi has instructed them to file a $50-million lawsuit against the CBC on Monday that “will claim general and punitive damages for among other things, breach of confidence and bad faith.”
READ MORE HERE.
Thanks for all the well wishes, you guys. I’m ok. Just taking some much needed personal time.
i enjoyed his show. Something tells me this story isn’t over. The information they received will come out and this story is going to be larger then it should be. I hope that it’s not anything bad against Jian. Maybe some personal bias got in the way. He is a talented broadcaster and cbc’s loss is someone else’s gain for sure
He tells all on his Facebook page. Judging by the comments, support for him is overwhelming.
Why is this guy suing the CBC? They haven’t said anything defamatory about his character.
Way too much information, Jian!
He will have his supporters but I can’t see a tidel wave of support for S&M, especially if his ex starts disclosing the details.
Smart that he’s getting his side of the story out first, trying to win public support before the balance of the story comes out. Read somewhere a few hours ago that he’d retained the services of Navigator, a company that specializes in crisis management and reputation recovery, so it’s probably safe to assume that that Navigator was very hands-on in the writing of his Facebook posting (or they completely ghost-wrote it for him).
As a high-profile CBC host, he would have had a pile of clauses in his contract, most notably a ‘morals’ clause. While I could care less about what he does with whatever apparatus inserted into whatever office while hogtied and wearing a gimp mask like that seen in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, the CBC is simply reacting as any other large corporation would when being presented with damaging allegations against the “public face” of the company. If Jian signed off on possible ‘morals’ language in his contract, his lawyers will probably tell him to just walk way and forget about launching a $50-million lawsuit, the case wouldn’t even get past the initial discovery stage, much less make it to an actual courtroom.
Oops, spelling error, “office” should actually read “orifice”.
I thought he was gay.
What a bunch of prudes. Let me guess you get red in the face and look all sheepish when you hear the word masterbation as well. Morals clause? Give me a break.
So out of these apparent four victims not one of them had enough self respect to go straight to the police and file a complaint because they were afraid of internet trolls?
It’s none of your employer’s business what you do in your bedroom until you serially date people decades younger than you and, allegedly, greet them at the door with a closed fist to the face.
If true, the CBC had every right to axe this guy. This is now what you want as the ‘face of the franchise’
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/26/cbc_fires_jian_ghomeshi_over_sex_allegations.html
Honestly I have never heard of him.
Don’t worry about Jian… apparently he’s just signed a deal with TLC for a replacement series:
“Here Comes Johnny Boo-Hoo”
Jian posted far too much info. One word would have been too much. His issue is with the Mother Corp not the public. To go public was way wrong. I have never listened to his show because I never listen to the CBC. I rarely watch CBC-TV. I believe it’s wrong to support the CBC with our tax dollars when they continue to carry commercial advertising. Sink or swim on your own. Commercial broadcasters are forced to. Sorry, Jian. Find a job elsewhere. Just like the rest of us.
Something about this doesn’t ring true. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s almost like we’re all being set up in some kind of social experiment.
If Jian wants to sue the taxpayers for $50 million, we should counter sue for the boring interviews he subjected the CBC radio audience to. For him to claim that an ex girlfriend is falsely accusing him of assault is only a defense if he didn’t have three other women claiming this.
If these accusations turn out to be true, I would like to see this guy placed in a prison where he can experience first hand what it’s like to receive a punch in the head and rough sex.
Not sure how he got to the $55 million figure. Unless he is getting grossly overpaid. Then again he might need the money for a new trapeze.
Is this a PR battle ? or for real?
I find it a bit concerning that there’s such a witch hunt for Jian (look at his facebook).. yes, it does not sound good (especially if you read what the Toronto Star says) if this is all true… but that’s what needs to be proven!
He’s not guilty until proven so in a court of law!! But also, him hiring a management company and then suing the CBC (aka the tax payers) for 55 million dollars is a bit much….
does it feel like abit of a soap opera? Is this what happens in Toronto when they don’t have a mayor with the last name Ford? LOL!!