UPDATE at 6:40 p.m.: Ghomeshi took to Facebook to confirm that he has indeed been fired by the CBC, claiming in a long post that he has been the victim of a “jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.” He gets into some private details about his personal life and what he likes in the bedroom, saying that he knows the information about his sexual preferences “may be shocking to some” and “may not be palatable to some folks.”
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.
Ghomeshi claims she then began “a campaign of harassment”, and along with a freelance writer, “they set out to try to find corroborators to build a case to defame me.” Ghomeshi says the CBC executives know everything was consensual:
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.
Original post: There’s a bit of controversy brewing in the Canadian media world, after the CBC announced it was cutting ties with Jian Ghomeshi, the star host of the wildly popular radio show Q. “Information came to our attention recently that in CBC’s judgment precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian Ghomeshi,” CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said in an email, according to the Globe and Mail. Earlier the CBC issued a statement, saying it was “saddened to announce its relationship with Jian Ghomeshi has come to an end,” and adding that the “decision was not made without serious deliberation and careful consideration.” The move comes days after the CBC said Ghomeshi was taking an “undetermined” amount of time off, and the radio host said he was taking some “much needed personal time.”
For now, Ghomeshi has hired a law firm and will sue claiming “general and punitive damages for among other things, breach of confidence and bad faith in the amount of $50 million,” according to a statement from his lawyers.
Update, Oct. 26, 2014: This post has been updated to clarify the allegations surrounding the departure of Jian Gomeshi from the CBC.
