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    The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

    'Scandal' in mild quotes, because nobody's really sure what it is at the moment.

    The backdrop: Jian Ghomeshi is a Canadian (Iranian-born) radio host on the CBC. Not just any radio host, but a cool-as-fuck rock star of a radio host that is syndicated more widely than any other on CBC. He's big. He's popular. And, by all accounts, is widely respected and liked. He makes a fortune for the CBC, apparently.

    So...this past Friday, JG took a leave of absence from the Mother Corp for 'personal reasons'. Most thought that it was to deal with the recent death of his father, about whom he published a widely circulated reflection piece. [I suspected grief or depression.]

    Over the weekend, the CBC announced that it was severing ties with him immediately. [Uh oh.] You don't do that when someone is away on stress leave.

    Then Ghomeshi posted a very long explanation on Facebook, detailing that he was being witch-hunted due to his 'adventurous' sex life, which (he admitted quite freely) involves bondage, S&M, domination, etc etc. Apparently he's being vilified by a jilted ex girlfriend, and she's out to ruin him.

    He says he'll be suing the CBC for $50 million for unlawful dismissal, etc. [Note: he's not been accused or charged with anything. It's all hearsay at the mo'.]

    He also noted that a 'major Canadian media company' investigated the allegations earlier this year, and found nothing.

    Not quite, say they. It's The Star, and they said that they simply couldn't verify the allegations because there were no charges being filed and the victims/sources wouldn't go on record.

    Anyway, it's a pretty ugly story if the allegations are true. They deal with abuse, and not all of it consensual as Ghomeshi claims.

    Story here if you're curious.

    http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/26/cbc_fires_jian_ghomeshi_over_sex_allegations.html

    #2
    The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

    I was surprised to see this become such a big deal on my Twitter feed yesterday, given that I had never heard of him, but he clearly is big in Canada.

    He also seems to have been widely rumoured to have had "issues" for a very long time, which have now become more public via the Star article.

    If the allegations in the Star piece are true, he belongs in jail, not on the radio.

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      #3
      The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

      Is he a talk-show host? Or music? What makes him so popular, is he funny? Not that it really matters but just interested.

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        #4
        The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

        He's a radio interview host: music, books, movies, mainly. But you can watch the taped interview online, too.

        He hosts the annual Scotiabank Giller Prize gala (book prize), from which he was also dismissed on the weekend.

        His Facebook posting was a good piece of 'get in front of the story', but the allegations (untested) in The Star's piece are scary.

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          #5
          The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

          Back in the day, he was also the singer for a band called Moxy Fruvous, who might be considered a low-rent Barenaked Ladies with one or two minor radio hits.

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            #6
            The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

            They're coming out of the woodwork now.

            Good.

            http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/two-more-women-accuse-ghomeshi-of-abuse/article21376089/#dashboard/follows/

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              #7
              The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

              Moxy Fruvous sounds familiar. I think somebody left their CD in my car and I still have it.

              I find it hard to fathom a public radio host being such a massive star.

              Canada needs to get about 10-15% less dorky.

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                #8
                The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                I don't want to know about horrid scandals, but "a low-rent Barenaked Ladies with one or two minor radio hits" is the most devastating music-related put-down I've read for a while. Bravo.

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                  #9
                  The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                  Two more. And now they're agreeing to be named.

                  http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/29/jian_ghomeshi_8_women_accuse_former_cbc_host_of_vi olence_sexual_abuse_or_harassment.html

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                    #10
                    The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                    The whole case is worrying. If it is all true, of course, it is horrible. However, we are now talking about 8 women who have come out having not previously spoken to the police. What they have said about Carla Ciccone however does add some perspective to why they didn't. That Carla Ciccone blog is just odd. You are obviously thinking that the guy is a lecherous, possibly dangerous, jerk. You are also struck at how she should have got out of there earlier - quite a few times, I am thinking "you silly cow, why did you do that?" - but I have no idea what such situations are like in reality. The blog does have an odd, light-hearted gossipy tone to it. None of these excuse what she says the guy did, of course.

                    The problem is that the innocent parties, whoever they are here, are not going to have an easy time having the truth proven. It is going to depend on one person's word against another where violent fantasies being played out during sex became non-consensual.

                    While the accusations are stacking up against him, he is still technically an innocent man who is losing work left, right and centre. While he could be an even more predatory DLT figure, he could also be a William Roache.

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                      #11
                      The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                      Most of the accounts in yesterday's Star piece have absolutely nothing to do with "violent fantasies being played out during sex".

                      They are instead harrowing accounts if pattened assaults by a guy who clrsrly thought himself to be too famous for any of the normal rules of human action to apply.

                      Whether he will be successfully prosecuted, as I fervently hope occurs, will depend on victims coming forward and be willing to testify in open court and on the Canadian justice system more broadly.

                      But there is no reason to apply that standard to his "career", which is surely over, or to the serious examination of how the CBC and the Canadian arts establishment allowed this to happen that desperately needs to occur.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                        This is a real shame, especially given his interview with Billy Bob Thornton is one of the most extraordinary pieces of footage ever, up there with Clough v Revie. Extremes of emotion, hysterical moments of comedy, suspense, chills.

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                          #13
                          The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                          Most of the accounts in yesterday's Star piece have absolutely nothing to do with "violent fantasies being played out during sex".
                          I am trying to be equivocal as I still think it is important that someone is innocent until proven guilty. However, you are right to point out that many of the allegations have nothing to do with sex. They are, however, still allegations at this point.

                          Again, I am concerned that you have tried, found him guilty and sentenced him already. LIke I say, with the fervour we have had over here, there has been one or two cases where people have had a few witnesses coming out against them and then being cleared - the William Roach one certainly springs to mind. Indeed, the "too famous for any of the normal rules of human action to apply" line is very similar to an accusation that the prosecution in that case said.

                          Willam Roach said that there were no winners in his case and this certainly seems to be the case here. If he is proven guilty then, at least, there will be faith in the system in prosecuting such cases successfully that will, at least, mean there may be more confidence from other future victims. If he is proven innocent then maybe the reverse will be true.

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                            #14
                            The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                            There was an interview with the actress Lucy DeCoutere this morning on CBC (The Current). They asked her how she felt when she first heard these allegations coming out last week, and she very thoughtfully said "it was like the world's smallest surprise", which I thought was quite funny and sad at once.

                            This thing kicked up to a whole different level when two of the women (independently) said that, right before he started hitting them, he turned his large, stuffed bear (Big Ears Teddy) to face the wall so he 'wouldn't see this'.

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                              #15
                              The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                              It's weird but Lucy DeCoutere being one of the accusers really put it over the top for me. I know who she is, she's fairly famous as one of the cast members of Trailer Park Boys, so it's very difficult to me to buy any theory that this is cooked up to help a career or get exposure or whatever.

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                                #16
                                The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                The Big Ears Teddy part is really spooky. It adds a whole new level of creepiness to the whole ordeal.

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                                  #17
                                  The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                  She was excellent on the interview. Ten years on, she's as confused now as she was then that she didn't go to the police. Listening to her, it's easy to understand why none of the women spoke out previously. They were shocked. They were confused. They blamed themselves. They thought they might be the one who 'misread' the situation. They were fearful of his power/status.

                                  Hopefully they can take some strength from each other now.

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                                    #18
                                    The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                    And more.

                                    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/29/bigearsteddy-jian-ghomeshi-twitter_n_6072266.html

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                                      #19
                                      The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                      Great, he's got generalised anxiety disorder. That's all we need.

                                      That video should clear up any ambiguity.

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                                        #20
                                        The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                        It'll be interesting to see what he does for a living for the rest of his life.

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                                          #21
                                          The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                          Bored, you are confusing the standard for a criminal conviction with the standard for whether an employer can dismiss an unionised employee and the standard for whether I am justified in believing that an individual is a cunt.

                                          They aren't the same thing.

                                          The Big Ears Teddy bit is the kind of unforgettable repeated detail that would have a huge impact on a jury were this ever to go to a civil or criminal trial.

                                          And the fact that there is an anonymous "Big Ears Teddy" twitter account that put out similar accusations against Ghomeshi in April just makes it all the more powerful (and depressing).

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                                            #22
                                            The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                            I've been diagnosed in the past with generalized anxiety disorder. Never hit anyone. Never assaulted anyone.

                                            But there is no reason to apply that standard to his "career", which is surely over, or to the serious examination of how the CBC and the Canadian arts establishment allowed this to happen that desperately needs to occur.
                                            This is the bit I'm not getting from what I've read. Were there credible public allegations or police reports long before?

                                            "Guy we thought was ok, turns out to be a rapist/chlid molester/creep" is, sadly, becoming a regular storyline. These people are usually really good at hiding it and keeping their victims silent. For a while. But sooner or later, it comes out.

                                            In general, it's not fair to blame the people around them for wanting to see the best in people and not knowing that this is what they're really like behind certain closed doors.

                                            But if credible evidence emerges, that changes, of course. So what's the background here? Other than rumors and allegations over the past few months, were there police reports, etc, from years past that the CBC, et al, overlooked?

                                            Reading up on this guy, I find it hard to believe that he's really as big of a Canadian institution as many reports are saying because his show has only been on for 7 years. It's not like Charlie Rose or Terry Gross who have been on PBS and NPR, respectively, for as long as anyone can remember.

                                            I'd also like to point out, again, that Barenaked Ladies are underrated. If you get past their hits, which are kind of novelty records, mostly, they've written a lot of good songs.

                                            Not sure I could say the same for Moxy Fruvous.

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                                              #23
                                              The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                              We have a very small domestic media industry. The CBC is largely it, and radio (in a lot of places) plays a larger cultural role than TV does. Within that world, he's huge.

                                              He's a really well-known name, is really engaging and (until Friday last) was extremely well regarded. I loved listening to him, and would happily have said hello on the street.

                                              We have maybe a handful of big, domestic stars (who haven't gone abroad yet) and he was one of them.

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                                                #24
                                                The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                                I suspect that this thing will emerge as one of those 'worst kept secrets' in the media/news world. But as far as I know, he's never been 'formally' accused or charged.

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                                                  #25
                                                  The Jian Ghomeshi 'scandal'.

                                                  Reed John wrote: I've been diagnosed in the past with generalized anxiety disorder. Never hit anyone. Never assaulted anyone.
                                                  Good, you are now our poster boy. Interesting to see that you say "in the past". Do you just mean that your diagnosis was in the past or that the GAD was.

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