{"id":30257,"date":"2014-11-01T15:49:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T07:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=30257"},"modified":"2014-11-01T15:49:28","modified_gmt":"2014-11-01T07:49:28","slug":"ghomeshi-affair-began-with-news-he-was-dealing-with-personal-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/11\/01\/ghomeshi-affair-began-with-news-he-was-dealing-with-personal-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghomeshi affair began with news he was dealing with personal issues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jian<\/a>
Jian Ghomeshi. Penmachine \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014\u201cThanks for all the well wishes, you guys. I\u2019m OK,\u201d radio star Jian Ghomeshi tweeted on Oct. 24 after CBC announced he was taking a leave from the network to deal with unspecified personal issues. Here\u2019s some of what unfolded in the days following that:<\/p>\n

Oct. 26:<\/strong> CBC announces it has cut ties with the \u201cQ\u201d radio host after receiving \u201cinformation\u201d about him.<\/p>\n

Oct. 26:<\/strong> Ghomeshi issues a lengthy Facebook post saying he has engaged in rough sex, but says it was always consensual. He says he was fired from CBC because of the risk that his sex life would become public \u201cas a result of a campaign of false allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oct. 27:<\/strong> The Toronto Star publishes a report detailing allegations from three women who say Ghomeshi was physically violent to them without their consent during sexual encounters or in the run-up to such encounters. Ghomeshi\u2014through his lawyer\u2014responded that he \u201cdoes not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory.\u201d The Star reported none of the women filed police complaints. The newspaper also reported that a fourth woman who worked at the CBC alleged that Ghomeshi \u201capproached her from behind and cupped her rear end in the Q studio\u201d and made a sexually obscene comment to her during a story meeting. The Star reported Ghomeshi told the newspaper that he did not understand why it was continuing to pursue allegations when \u201cmy lawyers have already told you it is untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oct. 27:<\/strong> Ghomeshi\u2019s lawyers file a lawsuit suing the CBC for $55 million plus special damages and alleging breach of confidence, bad faith and defamation. The CBC did not immediately file a formal statement of defence, but a spokesman said the public broadcaster plans to \u201ccontest this matter vigorously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oct. 28:<\/strong> The CBC issues an internal memo saying it is conducting a \u201ccontinuing investigation\u201d into a claim of misconduct against one of its employees. The memo never named Ghomeshi directly, but said it became aware of the claim through a story published in the Toronto Star.<\/p>\n

Oct. 29:<\/strong> CBC current affairs radio show \u201cAs it Happens\u201d airs an interview with a woman who alleges Ghomeshi punched her repeatedly in the head without warning. The woman said she did not go to police and felt emboldened to come forward after reading the allegations in the Toronto Star. The woman was not named.<\/p>\n

Oct. 29:<\/strong> The Toronto Star publishes another article, saying eight women now allege abusive behaviour by Ghomeshi. \u201cTrailer Park Boys\u201d actress Lucy DeCoutere agrees to be identified in connection with her allegations against Ghomeshi. DeCoutere accused Ghomeshi of choking her \u201cto the point she could not breathe\u201d and slapping her \u201chard three times on the side of her head.\u201d The Star said Ghomeshi, his lawyers and public relations staff had not responded to allegations in their latest report.<\/p>\n

Oct. 30:<\/strong> Ghomeshi issues a Facebook post saying that he intends to \u201cmeet these allegations directly,\u201d but adding he will not communicate with the media.<\/p>\n

Oct. 30:<\/strong> The CBC says it is hiring a third-party company to conduct an investigation in the wake of allegations against Ghomeshi. It also says CBC is making counsellors available to employees.<\/p>\n

Oct. 30:<\/strong> Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says there is no investigation underway against Ghomeshi, adding someone must lodge a formal complaint in order for a probe to be launched. None of Ghomeshi\u2019s accusers had reported going to police with their allegations.<\/p>\n

Oct. 30:<\/strong> Two public relations firms, Navigator and Rock-it Promotions, issue statements saying they no longer represent Ghomeshi<\/p>\n

Oct, 30:<\/strong> Another woman, identifying herself as Reva Seth, writes an article for the Huffington Post involving her own allegations of an aggressive, non-consensual encounter with Ghomeshi.<\/p>\n

Oct. 31:<\/strong> CBC issues a memo to staff saying it saw \u201cgraphic evidence\u201d that Ghomeshi had caused physical injury to a woman. This evidence, it said, was seen on Oct. 23 and was the reason behind the decision to fire the Q host. In the memo, Executive Vice-President Heather Conway said Ghomeshi also had a letter from two journalists that made allegations about his private life. The Star never contacted the corporation directly about them, she said. \u201cWhen directly confronted, Jian firmly denied there was any truth to those allegations,\u201d Conway said.<\/p>\n

Oct. 31:<\/strong> The Toronto Star publishes a story saying Ghomeshi showed CBC executives videos of some of his sexual encounters.<\/p>\n

Oct. 31:<\/strong> CBC president Hubert Lacroix issues a public statement saying he\u2019s shocked, saddened and angry at the torrent of allegations against Ghomeshi.<\/p>\n

Oct. 31:<\/strong> Various organizations and individuals all announce they are parting company with Ghomeshi. Penguin Canada says it will no longer publish his next book, talent management company \u201cThe Agency Group\u201d stated it would no longer represent him, and pop singer Lights issued a Facebook statement saying she was dropping Ghomeshi as her manager after 12 years of working together.<\/p>\n

Oct. 31:<\/strong> Toronto Police say they are investigating Ghomeshi after two women have come forward with complaints.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO\u2014\u201cThanks for all the well wishes, you guys. I\u2019m OK,\u201d radio star Jian Ghomeshi tweeted on Oct. 24 after CBC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":30258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-hollywood","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}