A “core group of Q staff” had complained about Ghomeshi’s behaviour this summer. A “culture of fear” and a lack of respect, the article says. It mentions that these weren’t sexual complaints, though, just him acting like a jerk.
And the latest item in this story - CBC hits back at Toronto Star over accusations in Ghomeshi editorial
My prediction: the CBC’s current internal investigation will produce a several-hundred-page report detailing all sorts of ‘best practices’ going forward, which will come out months after the story has died down and create no big stir - unless they in fact uncover some “smoking guns” such as memos outlining that top CBC brass knew about the incidents and decided not to act (which I think is unlikely, but you never know).
The fact that CBC moved so quickly to fire the guy (before the story even broke) limits the PR fallout to them. There is always going to be some, because any time a scandal breaks there are always going to be second-guessing going on (if the guy is guilty, why didn’t they act sooner?).
The release of the complaints about his tyrannical behaviour on the show actually helps the CBC here - as it specifically does not mention ‘by the way, he harrasses and beats women’. If it was (as some allege) reasonably common knowledge, why did the complaining employees not drop that tid-bit? It would be perfectly natural to include that, in a manifesto complaining about the ‘climate of fear’ he created.
Fascinating. The CBC is refuting a strawman. Their response goes on and on about how they did not know about the sexual violence, but says nothing about the problems actually alleged in the editorial – the way he treated his employees. It’s a clever attempt to deflect blame wihtout addressing the substantive issue raised. Did the CBC receive complaints from employees about the way they were treated professionally by Ghomeshi? Did they respond to those complaints or just brush them off? The fact that they don’t even address these questions in their response is a pretty good indication to me that the accusations in the editorial are spot-on.
Disagree - if you read the original Star editorial, it was accusing the CBC explicitly of failure to act about sexual harrassment and/or abuse towards women, not tyrannical behaviours towards employees.
The piece starts as follows:
In the middle, states:
And it ends as follows:
Jesse Brown, one of the writers of the original Star article, writes on his website inan article today (November 6) that “Information released today by Chuck Thompson, CBC’s Head of Public Affairs, reveals the broadcaster’s impending 3rd party investigation of the Ghomeshi scandal to be a pre-determined cover-up and whitewash.”
An article worth reading for those following the story.
Found another article this morning.
Jian Ghomeshi: How he got away with it
“Jian Ghomeshi’s behaviour was an open secret, going back to his university days. Not that anyone took action. In fact, the CBC made him a star.”
Insightful article.
I suppose he could apply for a job at Real Social Dynamics.
Latest rumour is that he’s in Muskoka. So, back in Canada, maybe. Ontario, even.
That is quite a thorough article. Thanks for the link.
I’m glad and somewhat amazed that everything is going the way it is. No one is supporting him anymore. Men and women alike are saying “yeah he’s always been a douchebag.” And men and women alike are speaking out against him.
It still feels like a weird case, though. I think because almost everything he did that was bad was just below the “that’s a private matter between two people” line. Some stuff was blatant over-the-line stuff he did at work but it almost seems like the incidents were so few and far between that he knew when it was safe to sexually harass/molest someone at work again because the previous incident had enough time to be forgotten.
Everyone knowing he was a douchebag probably helped keep things under wraps, too. “Oh, well that douchebag did another douchebag thing. What do you expect?” Women probably told themselves “Well, what did I expect?” And no doubt that as he got more famous, the women he attacked had to weigh the “hassle” of reporting/calling out a famous person versus just ignoring it and trying to avoid him.
One thing that stuck out to me in that article, tho, is that the rest of the guys in his band say they had “no inkling.” Like…being on tour with a band is like being in a petri dish for sex. How could they possibly have “no inkling”?? Did Jian have his own bus? Or did he come up with some really skeevy way to hurt women quietly and without leaving a mark while guys were playing pinochle on the other side of the bus curtain?
Anyway…I have been following pretty closely since Lucy DeCoutre came out. And I am very pleased with the way things have gone.
I actually have been surprised at how low key the media has been about his Iranian heritage. Just as there were people who immediately went to “dog fighting is a black thing” (?!- news to most blacks I know) with Michael Vick and other odd racial associations, there would probably have been immediate “Is Jian Ghomeshi’s abuse the result of Islamic misogyny?” discussions were he American instead of Anglo-Canadian.
I’m guessing it’s not Persian or Muslim or anything else more than “Jian is fucked up”, but I do wonder if there was violence in his home. I’m curious if there’s a pattern among men who are aroused by being violent to women or if it’s more nature or nurture.
We humans like nothing more than a clear Bad Guy™ and a nice Public Shaming™.
The more that is shared, the more it becomes crystallized that he is a Bad Guy. And has been known to be a Bad Guy for decades.
As a lens, this event illustrates our social norms - what we agree is Bad, and how hard it is to surface Bad Guys.
I think I’ve been disillusioned by the Ray Rice stuff, “Gamer gate” and then the catcalling stuff. Those situations had so much push-back from the “boys will be boys” crowd. It’s really been making me feel bad about the state of … not so much women’s rights but just surprised and saddened about how “men” really feel about women (and I realize it’s not all men, just the vocal ones. But it still makes me feel bad.) Of course, somehow I’ve managed to avoid reading any comments on any of the articles, so maybe I am missing out on a lot of vocal men who believe he’s innocent.
Even the Honey Boo Boo scandal where the mom is not believing or listening to her daughter about sexual abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. Feels to me like another story of how women (and girls) can’t win. Such a bummer.
The above “scandals” and this scandal are still all he said/she said stuff. But it is actually turning out the right way. Maybe it’s because it’s in Canada and not America, I don’t know. I just feel a little less bad now that one of these public trials rose up, sides were taken, the truth was told, people were convinced and changed their minds instead of digging their heels in harder, and now the only person in hiding is the bad guy and not the victims. And some women came out on top.
Know what I mean?
And a couple of days ago Justin Trudeau (leader of the Opposition) kicked two of his own MP’s out of caucus, for inappropriate behaviour toward female MP’s. (Go Justin !)
I sense there’s a lot of discussion in boardrooms right now, from Halifax to Vancouver. Organizations reviewing not only their policies, but their enforcement, and the culture of their own work places.
Not only has this sparked a national dialogue about women’s issues, workplace culture, etc. but, it’s pretty clear that something HAS changed. Other victims (not of this creeper) but of long ago crimes, shamed in silent for years, suddenly feel that it’s time to speak out. Suddenly the atmosphere seems different. People ARE speaking out, to stunned, family, friends and colleagues, who had no idea, over all these years.
And they are being met with caring, compassion and support. Often from the very people they most feared would judge them.
It pleases me that I can smell change in the air.
Good posts, Zipper and elbows. Yeah, I’m also sort of glad at how this is turning out, and that the truth about many things is finally being uncovered. I am sort of bummed at how it took this long, but yeah, good that things have been coming to light and that there is dialogue going on in this country about topics that need to be discussed.
Apparently, the NDP are hopping mad at Justin, and claim he has “re-victimized” the women involved - by going public without their consent.
Moreover, having suspended the two alleged abusers, he discovered that apparently there is no mechanism in place to deal with such allegations - and no way to verify their veracity (given that at least one of the complainants does not wish to go public).
It’s an illustration of the ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ principle. What’s the next step for Justin, assuming the NDP MPs keep refusing to go public? Keep them suspended? (They both claim innocence, but of course, they would whether they were guilty or not). Re-instate them? Some third option?
Hey, that’s where Rob Ford hid out too.
What ? No policy to cover this? Get someone on it!
Oh no, said too much, shouldn’t have revealed that, take a note!
I don’t care if they don’t get it just right on the first swing. He had the balls to take the right stand even if implementation needs work. I’m cool with that.
I see someone moving in the right direction. Besides the NDP are always looking to rag on Justin. I’m cool with that too!
Heather Conway interview with Peter Mansbridge (YouTube video interview, posted today.)
The description says “The CBC’s head of English programming talks about who knew what and when regarding the Jian Ghomeshi affair.”
Conway talks bout how it’s not an issue of “rough sex” but an issue of someone inflicting injury on someone else.
The defenders of abusive guys might seem like an army on the internet, but I think you’d find they are actually very young or very marginalized people (mostly males) who are badly positioned to have a proper relationship of their own in real life. For people like that, empathizing with womens’ life and relationship struggles is akin to empathizing with a billionaire struggling over whether to buy a 2nd vacation home in Italy or the Cayman Islands … their only reaction is dismissive anger. Not that it makes it OK, but it’s the voice of a specific type of bitter person that one hopes to never turn into.
And I didn’t delve into internet discussions, but I didn’t get the feeling that either Ghomeshi or Ray Rice were getting major support even from that crowd.