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Jian Ghomeshi

mc

New member
I have always been a huge fan of this show Q on CBC. The events that have transpired over the weekend have been shocking. We don't know the full story of what has happened. For those who don't know yet, Jian was fired from the CBC over the weekend for allegations of sexual abuse from 3 women. That's the way I understand it. Jian in a statement says he has proof that the acts were consensual and what he does in his bedroom is nobody's business. Jian has filed a $50 million dollar law suit against the CBC over his firing.



Here are some links:

Liking 'Q' Isn't a Good Enough Reason to Side With Jian
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/justin-beach/jian-ghomeshi-fired-cbc_b_6051938.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Jian Ghomeshi releases statement on his Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jianghomeshi/posts/10152357063881750

CBC fires Jian Ghomeshi over sex allegations
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/26/cbc_fires_jian_ghomeshi_over_sex_allegations.html

Why the Star chose to publish Jian Ghomeshi allegations
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/26/why_the_star_chose_to_publish_jian_ghomeshi_allegations.html
 
Unrelated to the obviously serious charges here but as this unfolded I somehow got directed to a Toronto Life profile of Ghomeshi that was pretty embarrassingly fawning, to the point where Moxy Fruvous was described as "The Barenaked Ladies meets Beastie Boys" which, I'm pretty sure, managed to kill Adam Yauch again.
 
Would the CBC fire its most marketable personality over kinky sex? There seems to be much more than that.
 
mc said:
Would the CBC fire its most marketable personality over kinky sex? There seems to be much more than that.

Well, no. The issue here is that the women involved are starting to come forward saying that it was not consensual. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes is their business. When there's a non-consenting partner, however, it's no longer a privacy issue. The CBC obviously feel that there's enough weight behind these accusations - though, they did open themselves up to the lawsuit by acting before criminal charges had been filed.
 
mc said:
Would the CBC fire its most marketable personality over kinky sex? There seems to be much more than that.

Well the CBC did threaten to fire Sook-Yin Lee years ago over her work in a sexually explicit film and only relented after public pressure - so it's not totally out of the realm of possibility.
 
We definitely don't have the whole story yet, and I feel like there's another shoe yet to drop.  I'm not sure the CBC, what is essentially a crown corporation, would fire someone and risk going into a dirty lawsuit based on allegations without any charges been laid, police reports, etc.

From the Star article, there's a good chance he was fired for sexual misconduct for harassing and groping the female co-worker...
 
I'm very interested in this considering I'm a fan of Q, but I can't help but think Jian is in a no-win scenario right here.  I know there are very real issues concerning women not reporting sexual assaults and victim-shaming, etc., but it remains that he could be innocent of any wrongdoing. 

So considering the fact that they a) won't go to the police and press charges and b) want to remain anonymous how does he defend himself?  Regardless of how ill-advised that Facebook post was, he's left to basically be tried in the court of public opinion.

Just messy.  I'm not trying to say he's innocent either, I have no idea.
 
Potvin29 said:
I'm very interested in this considering I'm a fan of Q, but I can't help but think Jian is in a no-win scenario right here.  I know there are very real issues concerning women not reporting sexual assaults and victim-shaming, etc., but it remains that he could be innocent of any wrongdoing. 

So considering the fact that they a) won't go to the police and press charges and b) want to remain anonymous how does he defend himself?  Regardless of how ill-advised that Facebook post was, he's left to basically be tried in the court of public opinion.

Just messy.  I'm not trying to say he's innocent either, I have no idea.

I wouldn't say the Facebook post was ill-advised - if anything, it was his attempt to get "ahead" of the story and framing it as "dude who just happens to like kinky sex" instead of "woman abuser."

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if his PR agency helped him write it.  It was really well done.
 
louisstamos said:
I wouldn't say the Facebook post was ill-advised - if anything, it was his attempt to get "ahead" of the story and framing it as "dude who just happens to like kinky sex" instead of "woman abuser."

Maybe, but the Star did essentially say that his facebook post is what lead them to report on the allegations. So to the extent that this helped his public cause is pretty touch and go at this moment. It absolutely made it a bigger story and his statement didn't really establish much of anything other than A) it'll be a he said, she said thing in public and B) he's the kind of person who would write: "...a story from Lynn Coady's Giller-Prize winning book last year" in what he's trying to frame as an impassioned defense of himself.
 
louisstamos said:
Potvin29 said:
I'm very interested in this considering I'm a fan of Q, but I can't help but think Jian is in a no-win scenario right here.  I know there are very real issues concerning women not reporting sexual assaults and victim-shaming, etc., but it remains that he could be innocent of any wrongdoing. 

So considering the fact that they a) won't go to the police and press charges and b) want to remain anonymous how does he defend himself?  Regardless of how ill-advised that Facebook post was, he's left to basically be tried in the court of public opinion.

Just messy.  I'm not trying to say he's innocent either, I have no idea.

I wouldn't say the Facebook post was ill-advised - if anything, it was his attempt to get "ahead" of the story and framing it as "dude who just happens to like kinky sex" instead of "woman abuser."

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if his PR agency helped him write it.  It was really well done.

Oh I assume they did.  I've seen a lot of negative reaction to it online though.
 
I see it the same way re the Facebook post. It has made the public sympathize with him without fully knowing the other side of the story. Right now people are criticizing the CBC and that is helping justify in peoples minds the law suit for $50 million.

No one is thinking about the women. Who might be the real victims.
 
mc said:
I see it the same way re the Facebook post. It has made the public sympathize with him without fully knowing the other side of the story. Right now people are criticizing the CBC and that is helping justify in peoples minds the law suit for $50 million.

No one is thinking about the women. Who might be the real victims.

Yep, that was 100% the intention.
 
mc said:
No one is thinking about the women. Who might be the real victims.

Um, did you read the Huffington Post column you linked to?

My primary concern isn't the public perception of CBC management, or Mr. Ghomeshi. I'm concerned about the possible victims.
 
louisstamos said:
From the Star article, there's a good chance he was fired for sexual misconduct for harassing and groping the female co-worker...

They may fall back on that, but from what I understand that complaint died within the union and didn't even get to the CBC.
 
I liked his interviews, but for whatever reason he always rubbed me a bit the wrong way.

Anyway, the concern is for the victims, what about Jian as a victim of unsubstantiated allegations? They need to have at least some compelling evidence of non-consensual abuse.
 

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