Kevin Donovan - Secret Life

I think it is time for you to confront this and tell the truth, I said.

Theres nothing to say, Ghomeshi replied. You have the truth.

It began as rumours. Whispers at dinner parties. Warnings about bad dates with a Canadian celebrity. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, superstar CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi revealed his interest in rough sex in a long Facebook post, and a scandal of unprecedented scale descended.

What the public did not know was that months before Ghomeshis emotional post, Toronto Star journalist Kevin Donovan and Canadaland podcaster Jesse Brown had quietly begun to pursue serious accusations about the CBC radio host. In Secret Life , Donovan takes us inside the investigation and the ensuing firestorm: Ghomeshis ignominious firing, his dramatic criminal trial, and the charge that led to an apology. Giving voice to those who came forward with allegations of a dark side of a national idol, Donovan exposes the challenges of facing off against a savvy public figure who fought to keep the story out of the public eye.

Secret Life is a thought-provoking account of the landmark Ghomeshi expos that sparked a nationwide discussion on sexual assault and the issue of consent, the cult of celebrity, and the politics of power and gender in the workplace.

Also by Kevin Donovan

The Dead Times (fiction)

ORNGE: The Star Investigation that Broke the Story

Crime Story: The Hunt for the Body Parts Killer (with Nick Pron)

Copyright 2016 by Kevin Donovan.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). To contact Access Copyright, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call 1-800-893-5777.

Edited by Jill Ainsley.

Cover and page design by Julie Scriver.

Cover illustration inspired by a photo by Peter Bregg / Stringer (Getty Images).

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Donovan, Kevin, author

Secret life : the Jian Ghomeshi investigation / Kevin Donovan.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-86492-964-8 (paperback).--ISBN 978-0-86492-958-7 (epub).--ISBN 978-0-86492-959-4 (mobi)

1. Ghomeshi, Jian--Trials, litigation, etc. 2. Ghomeshi, Jian--Relations with women. 3. Sex scandals--Canada--Ontario--Toronto. 4. Trials (Sex crimes)--Canada. 5. Fame--Social aspects--Canada. 6. Radio broadcasters--Canada. I. Title.

HV6593.C3D66 2016 364.1530971 C2016-904305-3

C2016-904306-1

We acknowledge the generous support of the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of New Brunswick.

Goose Lane Editions

500 Beaverbrook Court, Suite 330

Fredericton, New Brunswick

CANADA E3B 5X4

www.gooselane.com

PREFACE

In May 2014 the Toronto Star assigned me to work with Jesse Brown to investigate allegations that a well-known Canadian public figure was assaulting women. The assignment came just over a year after reporter Robyn Doolittle and I saw the mayor of Toronto smoking crack in a video recorded by an alleged gun and drug dealer. When Doolittle and I watched the video on an iPhone on an April evening in a dodgy parking lot, we were not at all surprised. Of course Rob Ford was smoking crack. That explained his behaviour. But when I learned that this new investigation involved the prominent CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, I was floored. Shocked. I was a fan, an admirer of Ghomeshis interviewing prowess who enjoyed his program. Its not that I thought a skilled interviewer was incapable of hurting other human beings; it is just that it did not make sense to me. I listened to his show when my schedule allowed and found him to be very progressive on many levels. I was vaguely aware that Ghomeshi was a former musician, and I had wondered how a musician becomes the CBCs premier interviewer. Now I asked myself how someone who seemed so likeable and progressive could do the things he was accused of doing. Was he never concerned that he was putting his reputation at risk? And why were we only hearing about this now?

This book explores the specifics of the many allegations against Jian Ghomeshi over a twenty-year period, the efforts of women to bring this story to light, and the intense, behind-the-scenes attempts to protect Ghomeshis secret life. I also examine the emergence of a national conversation about sexual harassment and abuse, and why, in so many cases, people bury these allegations of mistreatment and do not come forward. Telling these stories, encouraging the national conversation on this issue, is very important. As a former justice of the US Supreme Court said more than one hundred years ago, Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.

Most of the allegations raised in this book were never heard in court. At time of writing, I have interviewed, and in some cases have written statements from, seventeen women and two men who have alleged that they experienced either sudden violence or sexually inappropriate behaviour at Ghomeshis hands. The allegations of only four complainants were dealt with in court, resulting in an acquittal in three cases and an apology from Ghomeshi in the fourth. In the remainder of the allegations, most of them far more serious, the women chose to talk to the media and not the police. I am also aware of four other sets of allegations from women who approached me anonymously and whose identity I do not know to this day.

Looking at the totality of the allegations, I can tell you that each persons response was different when faced with Ghomeshis behaviour. Some stayed. Some left. One pushed him back roughly and warned Ghomeshi that she had three brothers. Another visited him from out of town many times. She said she endured the violence because she liked him and thought he would change, until she had finally had enough. From the first time I contacted Ghomeshi in the summer of 2014, and with the exception of his apology to one of the women, the former radio star has insisted that everything he has done is consensual. In the two years since I confronted him in person with these allegations, neither he nor his lawyers have ever responded to my written requests for his side of the story, requests I sent as each new allegation surfaced and as this book was being finalized. In court, he pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him. In his now infamous Facebook posting after he was fired, Ghomeshi wrote he only partakes in sexual activities that are mutually agreed upon, consensual, and exciting for both partners. The stories of the women in this book are generally described as they were told to me. They remain allegations and have not been proven in court.

I have previously done research into bondage and sadomasochistic practices. I know that some people enjoy experiencing or inflicting physical pain. Some stay in the privacy of their homes, while others go to dungeons with full knowledge that they might be put in a cage, tied up, whipped or spanked. They are willing participants who establish their boundaries in advance. Explicit consent and safe words are paramount. The women interviewed for this book say none of these things occurred when they were with Jian Ghomeshi.

The Ghomeshi story was polarizing and remains so today.

The evidence to dismiss the bogus charges against Jian was overwhelming. As for broads in general they are manipulative, dishonest, ruthless liars, one reader told me. Many men are in jail because women lied. We finally get a judge that doesnt wear a dress and youre quick off the mark to brand him. Women are inherently evil. Perhaps you should expose women.