Before he was charged with seven counts of sexual assault by six different women in 2014, Jian Ghomeshi was the king of Canadian radio. As the host of the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s (CBC) popular radio show “Q,” he also had a growing following here in the United States. Six months after his firing, an internal investigation into Ghomeshi’s workplace behavior and that of the CBC says outright that “CBC management condoned this behavior.”
The Washington Post:
Release of the report, prepared for the CBC by a law firm, coincided with the announced departure of two CBC executives.
The report’s most powerful and lasting point, however, is its critique of the “host culture” that pervaded CBC.
Host culture “consists of a belief that people who occupy the role of an on air host inevitably have big personalities, big egos, and big demands,” the report says. “Witnesses described hosts as ‘different beasts’ given the public-facing nature of their role.” …
In a finding that will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the case — including Ghomeshi’s passionate and explicit self-defense of his sexual habits on Facebook just after his firing — the report also says that the radio host “shared details about his own sex life.” …
Despite years of such abusive and arrogant behavior, Ghomeshi was never fired until the allegations went public. In fact, he was hardly even reprimanded because of the “host culture” at CBC.
Ghomeshi intends to plead not guilty. The full report can be read here.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC