Canadian radio star Ghomeshi fired following alleged smear campaign

USPA News - Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi, who is well-known as an on-air personality and host of the `Q` radio show that is also syndicated in the United States, was fired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Sunday following an alleged `smear campaign` by an ex-girlfriend. The national broadcaster said in a brief statement that it was saddened to announce that its relationship with Ghomeshi had come to an end.

"This decision was not made without serious deliberation and careful consideration. Jian has made an immense contribution to the CBC and we wish him well," it said. Responding to the announcement, Ghomeshi announced he would sue CBC for 50 million Canadian dollars (U.S. $44.5 million), alleging that the broadcaster had fired him after disclosing to his employer that he engages in BDSM, which is a sexual practice that may involve dominance and submission, role-playing and the use of restraints. "I was given the choice to walk away quietly and to publicly suggest that this was my decision. But I am not going to do that. Because that would be untrue. Because I`ve been fired. And because I`ve done nothing wrong," Ghomeshi wrote on Facebook. "I`ve been fired from the CBC because of the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer." Media critic Jesse Brown, whose CanadaLand website features several stories that are critical of CBC in matters unrelated to Ghomeshi, said earlier on Sunday that he was preparing to release a story about Ghomeshi, but provided no details. "What I have learned about [Jian Ghomeshi] after months of investigation will be reported responsibly as soon as possible. Patience please," he wrote on Twitter. According to Ghomeshi`s version of events, the smear campaign followed a relationship he had from 2012 with a woman in her late 20s. "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," he wrote. Ghomeshi said that - despite a "strong connection" - it became clear to him that the on-and-off dating was unlikely to grow into a serious relationship, which led him to break it off early 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," he wrote in the lengthy post. Ghomeshi added: "After this, in the early spring there began a campaign of harassment, vengeance and demonization against me that would lead to months of anxiety. It came to light that a woman had begun anonymously reaching out to people that I had dated (via Facebook) to tell them she had been a victim of abusive relations with me. In other words, someone was reframing what had been an ongoing consensual relationship as something nefarious." The woman then began `colluding` with a freelance writer who, Ghomeshi claims, was known not to be a fan of him and together they set out to find others to build a case against him. "She found some sympathetic ears by painting herself as a victim and turned this into a campaign," he said. "Everyone contacted would ask the same question, if I had engaged in non-consensual behavior why was the place to address this the media?" Ghomeshi said he had been open with CBC ever since the allegations came to light, explaining that he wanted his bosses to be aware of a campaign against him. "On Thursday I voluntarily showed evidence that everything I have done has been consensual. I did this in good faith and because I know, as I have always known, that I have nothing to hide. This when the CBC decided to fire me," he said. Ghomeshi added: "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. ... 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." "And so, with no formal allegations, no formal complaints, no complaints, not one, to the HR department at the CBC (they told us they`d done a thorough check and were satisfied), and no charges, I have lost my job based on a campaign of vengeance," the media personality explained, adding that the firing came just two weeks after the death of his father. It was not immediately possible to independently corroborate Ghomeshi`s version of events, and CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson did not return a request for comment. Brown, in a tweet sent earlier this week, in which he offers to retract his upcoming story if CBC denies it, the media critic wrote that his information about Ghomeshi "is unverified but from a highly credible source."