Jian Ghomeshi Sues CBC for $50 million Over His Departure

[kal]

Original Title: CBC and Ghomeshi part ways

With "read between the lines" suggestions the CBC states that it has parted ways with one of its major stars, Q creator and moderator Jian Ghomeshi.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/jian-ghomeshi-host-of-q-no-longer-with-cbc-1.2813670

<excerpt>
"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 ended its ties with Ghomeshi earlier on Sunday, said spokesman Chuck Thompson.

"Information came to our attention recently that in CBC's judgment precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian," Thompson told CBC News.

</excerpt>

[jon]

Jian Ghomeshi suing CBC for $50M after crown corp cuts ties with radio host
By Ishmael N. Daro, Canada.com
October 26, 2014 1:29 PM

Jian Ghomeshi is no longer with the CBC, according to a surprise announcement by the crown corporation on Sunday.

“The CBC is saddened to announce its relationship with Jian Ghomeshi has come to an end,” read a brief statement posted online. “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.”

Asked for clarification on Sunday, CBC communications director Chuck Thompson told Postmedia that “information came to our attention recently, that in CBC’s judgement, precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian Ghomeshi.”

In response, Ghomeshi is suing the public broadcaster for $50 million claiming “breach of confidence and bad faith,” according to a statement from the law firm Dentons Canada LLP sent out Sunday afternoon. His lawyers will file the lawsuit Monday morning.

The spat comes two days after Ghomeshi stepped away from his hosting duties on the popular CBC Radio One program Q, although the reason was not immediately clear. He later said on Twitter that he was “taking some much needed personal time.”

The 47-year-old radio personality has been one of CBC’s biggest stars since launching his arts and culture program in 2007, making international headlines in 2009 after a testy exchange with actor Billy Bob Thornton. He previously hosted the music show Play on CBC Television and was a founding member of the rock band Moxy Früvous. Ghomeshi was also

While the exact circumstances of Ghomeshi’s departure from CBC are not yet know, media critic Jesse Brown says he is ready to report the details of a lengthy investigation into Ghomeshi on his news and podcast site Canadaland.

The Globe and Mail, meanwhile, reports that Ghomeshi has retained the services of Navigator, a communications firm that specializes in “crisis response and reputation recovery.”

[Tom Jeffries]

There sure is a lot of subtext to this - boy, the lawyers must be rubbing their hands.

Rumours are flying.

Weird.

[pave]

Although there were no allegations at the time, I recall my favourite P.D. going to bat for me with management.
His comment: "I don't care if he blows dead bears - so long as he gets me numbers."
I thought that was quite charming... in a cutesy, vomit-in-the-throat kinda way.

Meanwhile, Ghomeshi could be forgiven for prematurely arranging for some serious adjustments to his future, substantial portfolio.
I mean, even if the guy was having bondage sex with a consenting giraffe - without a net - it still ain't nobody's business.

[Dave L]

Reposted from https://www.facebook.com/jianghomeshi/posts/10152357063881750?fref=nf

Dear everyone,

I am writing today because I want you to be the first to know some news.

This has been the hardest time of my life. I am reeling from the loss of my father. I am in deep personal pain and worried about my mom. And now my world has been rocked by so much more.

Today, I was fired from the CBC.

For almost 8 years I have been the host of a show I co-created on CBC called Q. It has been my pride and joy. My fantastic team on Q are super-talented and have helped build something beautiful.

I have always operated on the principle of doing my best to maintain a dignity and a commitment to openness and truth, both on and off the air. I have conducted major interviews, supported Canadian talent, and spoken out loudly in my audio essays about ideas, issues, and my love for this country. All of that is available for anyone to hear or watch. I have known, of course, that not everyone always agrees with my opinions or my style, but I've never been anything but honest. I have doggedly defended the CBC and embraced public broadcasting. This is a brand I’ve been honoured to help grow.

All this has now changed.

Today I was fired from the company where I've been working for almost 14 years – stripped from my show, barred from the building and separated from my colleagues. I was given the choice to walk away quietly and to publicly suggest that this was my decision. But I am not going to do that. Because that would be untrue. Because I’ve been fired. And because I've done nothing wrong.

I’ve been fired from the CBC 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.

As friends and family of mine, you are owed the truth.

I have commenced legal proceedings against the CBC, what’s important to me is that you know what happened and why.

Forgive me if what follows may be shocking to some.

I have always been interested in a variety of activities in the bedroom but I only participate in sexual practices that are mutually agreed upon, consensual, and exciting for both partners.

About two years ago I started seeing a woman in her late 20s. Our relationship was affectionate, casual and passionate. We saw each other on and off over the period of a year and began engaging in adventurous forms of sex that included role-play, dominance and submission. We discussed our interests at length before engaging in rough sex (forms of BDSM). We talked about using safe words and regularly checked in with each other about our comfort levels. She encouraged our role-play and often was the initiator. We joked about our relations being like a mild form of Fifty Shades of Grey or a story from Lynn Coady's Giller-Prize winning book last year. I don’t wish to get into any more detail because it is truly not anyone's business what two consenting adults do. I have never discussed my private life before. Sexual preferences are a human right.

Despite a strong connection between us it became clear to me that our on-and-off dating was unlikely to grow into a larger relationship and I ended things in the beginning of this year. She was upset by this and sent me messages indicating her disappointment that I would not commit to more, and her anger that I was seeing others.

After this, in the early spring there began a campaign of harassment, vengeance and demonization against me that would lead to months of anxiety.

It came to light that a woman had begun anonymously reaching out to people that I had dated (via Facebook) to tell them she had been a victim of abusive relations with me. In other words, someone was reframing what had been an ongoing consensual relationship as something nefarious. I learned – through one of my friends who got in contact with this person – that someone had rifled through my phone on one occasion and taken down the names of any woman I had seemed to have been dating in recent years. This person had begun methodically contacting them to try to build a story against me. Increasingly, female friends and ex-girlfriends of mine told me about these attempts to smear me.

Someone also began colluding with a freelance writer who was known not to be a fan of mine and, together, they set out to try to find corroborators to build a case to defame me. She found some sympathetic ears by painting herself as a victim and turned this into a campaign. The writer boldly started contacting my friends, acquaintances and even work colleagues – all of whom came to me to tell me this was happening and all of whom recognized it as a trumped up way to attack me and undermine my reputation. Everyone contacted would ask the same question, if I had engaged in non-consensual behavior why was the place to address this the media?

The writer tried to peddle the story and, at one point, a major Canadian media publication did due diligence but never printed a story. One assumes they recognized these attempts to recast my sexual behaviour were fabrications. Still, the spectre of mud being flung onto the Internet where online outrage can demonize someone before facts can refute false allegations has been what I've had to live with.

And this leads us to today and this moment. I’ve lived with the threat that this stuff would be thrown out there to defame me. And I would sue. But it would do the reputational damage to me it was intended to do (the ex has even tried to contact me to say that she now wishes to refute any of these categorically untrue allegations). But with me bringing it to light, in the coming days you will prospectively hear about how I engage in all kinds of unsavoury aggressive acts in the bedroom. And the implication may be made that this happens non-consensually. And that will be a lie. But it will be salacious gossip in a world driven by a hunger for "scandal". And there will be those who choose to believe it and to hate me or to laugh at me. And there will be an attempt to pile on. And there will be the claim that there are a few women involved (those who colluded with my ex) in an attempt to show a "pattern of behaviour". And it will be based in lies but damage will be done. But I am telling you this story in the hopes that the truth will, finally, conquer all.

I have been open with the CBC about this since these categorically untrue allegations ramped up. I have never believed it was anyone's business what I do in my private affairs but I wanted my bosses to be aware that this attempt to smear me was out there. CBC has been part of the team of friends and lawyers assembled to deal with this for months. 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.

CBC execs confirmed that the information provided showed that there was consent. In fact, they later said to me and my team that there is no question in their minds that there has always been consent. They said they’re not concerned about the legal side. But then they said that this type of sexual behavior was unbecoming of a prominent host on the CBC. They said that I was being dismissed for "the risk of the perception that may come from a story that could come out." To recap, I am being fired in my prime from the show I love and built and threw myself into for years because of what I do in my private life.

Let me be the first to say that my tastes in the bedroom may not be palatable to some folks. They may be strange, enticing, weird, normal, or outright offensive to others. We all have our secret life. But that is my private life. That is my personal life. And no one, and certainly no employer, should have dominion over what people do consensually in their private life.

And so, with no formal allegations, no formal complaints, no complaints, not one, to the HR department at the CBC (they told us they’d done a thorough check and were satisfied), and no charges, I have lost my job based on a campaign of vengeance. Two weeks after the death of my beautiful father I have been fired from the CBC because of what I do in my private life.

I have loved the CBC. The Q team are the best group of people in the land. My colleagues and producers and on-air talent at the CBC are unparalleled in being some of the best in the business. I have always tried to be a good soldier and do a good job for my country. I am still in shock. But I am telling this story to you so the truth is heard. And to bring an end to the nightmare.

Jian Ghomeshi
.

[Howaboutthat]

Well, that's one side of the story, probably written by a PR firm that is having a shower to stop feeling dirty.

Didn't read all of it, but enough to determine it is not a story I'll be following.

Now, back to the World Series.

[retireddxer]

The CBC is likely to come to an out of court settlement on this one, from a fear of CBC types being called to the witness stand and forced to recount a lot of their own intimate secrets. For comparison purposes, naturally.

The CBC likes to break news stories, not make them.

[Talker]

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.

[bigbry]

I really think the CBC and Ghomeshi handled this very poorly. If he's successful in suing the CBC, it'll be our money that paying out the lawsuit. Ghomeshi said that he really loves the CBC and Canada... For 50 mil of taxpayers money he better say he love this country. "DXER" I think your right, out of court settlement with a "Ball Gag Order" attached. The CBC wil have to put a new line in their 2015 Budget... CBC= "Canadian Bondage Compensation". I care for the CBC as much as I care who Ghomeshi is banging or how he bangs them.

PS thanks for letting us comment on this story...the CBC did't allow any comments at all

[Tom Jeffries]

The Toronto SUN has blown this story wide open, after "The Letter" was published by Ghomeshi.

I'll let you form your own conclusions.

Yikes.

[Blabbermouth]

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/27/jian-ghomeshis-cbc-lawsuit-is-hopeless-even-if-hes-telling-the-truth/?__federated=1

[pave]

With his income from the CBC he could afford a kinky lifestyle. And there is no reason for that to stop any time soon.
Now I have an idea how he came to have that glint in his eye and such a mellow composure, what with the butt-plugs, rings and clamps & stuff.
But, I wouldn't know anything about that. I worked private and corporate radio.
Maybe bigbry can fill us in, so to speak.

[retireddxer]

The CBC is likely to come to an out of court settlement on this one, from a fear of CBC types being called to the witness stand and forced to recount a lot of their own intimate secrets. For comparison purposes, naturally.

The CBC likes to break news stories, not make them.

At the time I wrote this, it all seemed so cut and dried. To me, at least.

Since then, there have been revelations of a fairly well documented case of sexual harassment in the workplace against a woman with whom he had no previous romantic involvement. As well as indications that a union agreement is involved.

Things seem much less clear now.

[jon]

Patrick Cardinal is recommending this article on his Facebook page. It comes from The Overcast, "Newfoundland's Art and Culture Newspaper".

The Real Take Away Message from the News about Jian Ghomeshi
Chad Pelley
The OverCast
October 27, 2014

What’s more shocking than this week’s breaking news about Jian Ghomeshi’s dismissal from CBC is the reality that, allegedly, upwards of 4 women are afraid to go on the record against him for fear of being shunned and attacked by Ghomeshi and Q fanatics.

Maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t, but a fear of being shunned by the public should never be a woman’s reason not to speak up, and the fact that thousands of people are already calling these women horrible people — before we know the facts — only reinforces the sentiment among many assaulted women that they should stay quiet to avoid public persecution, especially in high profile cases.

That is what we should all be talking about this week. I don’t yet know what he did or didn’t do, but I do know that, unrelated to this case, there are numerous instances of assault victims being crucified online for speaking out against male aggressors. Time will tell if Jian was “smeared,” so let’s wait and see. But time has already shown us why so many women keep quiet about cases just like this one.

Recently, a friend confided in me that she found herself in a similar position. Initially, things were consensual, until the man became violent and did things against her will. She chose not to go public or to the police.

Initially, hurt and outraged on her behalf, I regretfully told her what I thought she should do, as if I had any right to tell her how to deal with this.

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you, or anyone,” she said. “I don’t want the general public commenting on how I should deal with my emotional duress, and the decisions I made, and what lines were and were not crossed.”

That’s when I saw the light: even with our best intentions, I, we, most of us, still don’t know how to address the issue that women are keeping silent about sexual assault because of our judgements on them for speaking up about it, or even, for not speaking up about it.

Until we definitively know whether Jian is a creep, or a man smeared at the height of his career, his guilt isn’t the bigger story here. The bigger story is that the 4 women making the allegations will not go on the record, because we the public already have the audacity to tell them how to feel about what’s happened to them, and even worse, what their actions did to a man who might indeed have assaulted them. Had we waited until a trial to judge these women, maybe they wouldn’t be rightfully citing fear of public harassment as their reason for not going on the record.

To be clear, since some people are questioning the article’s motives, this is not a stance on Jian’s guilt or innocence, but a piece on victim silence, and how, even if the people accusing Jian are lying, women are seeing the consequence of speaking out about assault It’s a piece about what we can do to lessen victim silence, and if Jian is the stand-up guy we want to believe he is, he would agree with this sentiment. But this article, if you read it how it was intended to to read, isn’t even about Jian.

[pave]

Jian Ghmeshi hasn't been charged with swiping a pack of gum - or anything else, so the story remains the manner of his firing.

While the plight of women involved in non-consensual activities is real, in this case it may also be a trial balloon or a red herring.

At this point, Ghomeshi is a plaintiff.