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Jian Ghomeshi (born June 9, 1967) is a British-born Persian-Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician, producer and former CBC personality. From 1990 to 2000, he was a vocalist and drummer in the Thornhill-based folk-pop band
Moxy Früvous Moxy Früvous was a Canadian politically satirical folk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active until 2001. Common themes in Früvous songs include Canada and the "human experience". History The ...
. In the 2000s, he became a television and radio broadcaster. He hosted, among others, the CBC Newsworld program ''
Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...
'' (2002–2005), the
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...
program '' The National Playlist'' (2005–2006), and the CBC Radio One program '' Q'', which he co-created and hosted from 2007 to 2014, until he was fired by the CBC. ''Q'', which featured interviews with prominent cultural and entertainment figures, became the highest rated show in its timeslot in CBC history. In 2014 and 2015, Ghomeshi was the subject of allegations of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
and
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
; he was eventually arrested. In late 2015, Ghomeshi pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial began in early 2016. That March he was
acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
of five of the charges, and in May
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
withdrew the last remaining charge after Ghomeshi signed a
peace bond In Canadian law, a peace bond is an order from a criminal court that requires a person to keep the peace and be on good behaviour for a period of time. This essentially means that the person who signs a peace bond must not be charged with any ...
and apologized to his accuser. In April 2017, Ghomeshi launched a new online venture, ''The Ideation Project''. In 2018, Ghomeshi's essay "Reflections from a Hashtag" was published in ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', which led to widespread criticism of the magazine.


Early life

Jian Ghomeshi was born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, United Kingdom, to
Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...
parents Farhang (Frank), a civil engineer, and Azar (Sara) Ghomeshi. His family came to Canada in 1974 when Jian was aged seven and his sister, Jila Ghomeshi, was aged ten, first living in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
before eventually settling in its suburb of Thornhill,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Ghomeshi described Thornhill as a "safe and quiet suburb where conformity was coveted ... The dwellings all looked relatively similar on our street, and most of the houses had big lawns and nice trees". He visited pre-revolutionary
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
twice as a child, once at age two, the other aged five. A
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, Ghomeshi was born into a
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
household that was initially optimistic about the 1979 Iranian Revolution but also celebrated on
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
and
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, and has described being raised in a largely
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community. With few Iranian expatriates in Canada during his youth, Ghomeshi "was extremely self-conscious of his appearance and his East London accent" and "felt different." He was
bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an im ...
for his ethnicity by classmates, who called him "Blackie", "Arab", "Paki", and "terrorist". Ghomeshi attended
Thornlea Secondary School Thornlea Secondary School is a public high school, in the Regional Municipality of York, that opened in 1968 and is located in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, on the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Willowbrook Road, just south of Highway 407. ...
, where he was student council president. He has written that, during his teenage years, he ensured that his clothes smelled of cigarette smoke to give him "social
credibility Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Credibility dates back to Aristotle theory of Rhetoric. Aristotle defines rhetoric as the ability to see what is possibly persuasive in ...
" even though he was a non-smoker, dressed " new wave" and listened to music from
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...
, and Rush. Ghomeshi had an interest in music as a student and in Grade 9 started a short-lived band with a few of his school friends called Urban Transit. His older sister, Jila, became a professor of linguistics, and their parents had initial reservations about his less-traditional career path—the distinction between ''
busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
'' and ''
begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public pla ...
'' being lost on his father—but Ghomeshi has said they ultimately supported his choices. In 1985, Ghomeshi was a committed
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and budding progressive
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
when he matriculated at
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
in the theatre program (in his memoir ''
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
'', he describes himself as a "theatre geek"). In 1990, he earned a record number of votes in his election to head of student government, which he renamed the York Federation of Students. As president, Ghomeshi instituted
bilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
and advocated for
abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
, free tuition, and ending “institutional racism.” He also cut off funding to student groups he alleged were engaged in “sexism, racism, homophobia and other exclusionary measures." While criticizing
fraternities A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity ...
and
sororities Fraternities and sororities are Club (organization), social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, but conti ...
for "sexism", he supported the school's female-only Women's Centre and was one of the few men allowed inside it. When then-
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
visited campus, Ghomeshi hurled macaroni at him. Progressives have since traced the roots of the “activist student coup” that subsequently took hold of York back to Ghomeshi's radical leadership. In 1995, after taking time off to play music, Ghomeshi graduated from York with a BA in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and a double minor in history and
women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...
.


Career


Music

In 1983, Ghomeshi and friends
Murray Foster Murray Douglas Foster (born June 29, 1967) is a Canadian musician, vocalist, songwriter, director, playwright, screenwriter, and environmentalist. He is best known for his work as electric and upright bassist in the Canadian bands Moxy Früvous and ...
, Tracy Jones, Reno Manfredi, and John Ruttle formed a band called Tall New Buildings. The band released two 12" EPs and played various gigs in and outside of Toronto before breaking up around 1988. Ghomeshi, Foster and another bandmate, Mike Ford, then formed a band called The Chia Pets. In 1989, the trio were joined by Dave Matheson to form the politically satirical
folk-pop Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...
band
Moxy Früvous Moxy Früvous was a Canadian politically satirical folk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active until 2001. Common themes in Früvous songs include Canada and the "human experience". History The ...
and together recorded eight albums before going on indefinite hiatus in 2001. Moxy Früvous was originally inspired by street-performing or busking bands, and Ghomeshi and bandmates started out by playing on streets in Toronto. Ghomeshi sang and played drums. He was credited as "Jean" rather than Jian on the band's first album, but reverted to the original spelling of his name for subsequent albums. A year after forming, Moxy Früvous was opening for headline performers like
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
. The band sold over 50,000 copies of their debut independent EP in 1992 (gold in Canada). Their debut album ''
Bargainville ''Bargainville'' is a 1993 album by Canadian band Moxy Früvous, their first major-label release. This disc's subject matter is divided between comedy and serious personal, social, and ecological issues. ''Bargainville'' was released on July 19, ...
'' went platinum in Canada in 1994 after selling over 100,000 copies. The band was also nominated for a
Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
as Band of the Year in 1994. Over the course of eight albums, they sold over 500,000 copies of their albums in Canada and the United States and made an appearance on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
''. Ghomeshi released his first solo EP, ''The First 6 Songs'', in July 2001. A 1996 video tape, revealed in 2014, suggested that Ghomeshi disdained his audiences, stating on camera that people paying to see the band's shows were "losers" and "fucking idiots". David Yuhnke, who was present at the recording, suspected that Ghomeshi was joking, recalling that the room's atmosphere was "sarcasm-laded", but added that he found it "hard to gauge entirely if he homeshiwas being serious or not". In 1999, Ghomeshi began a correspondence with a 16-year-old girl, Sally Block, who was a fan of Moxy Früvous. This continued for three years and included in-person meetings where Ghomeshi is alleged to have been "handsy" with her. In 2002, they had a falling out and Block broke into Ghomeshi's email account. Ghomeshi sought to have her banned from "FruCon" – a Moxy Früvous convention – and wanted criminal charges to be pressed against her. She was allowed to attend FruCon, and Ghomeshi dropped the issue after her father confronted him for "carrying on this type of relationship with an underage girl". Ghomeshi's production company, Jian Ghomeshi Productions Inc., managed musician
Martina Sorbara Martina Sorbara (born November 13, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and frontwoman of the band Dragonette."Naughty sounds from the minister's daughter; DRAGONETTE Singer-songwriter moves to London and gets her groove on". ''Toronto Star'', M ...
(now of the band
Dragonette Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer (also in Th ...
) and produced music for
Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She is ...
. He managed
electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
artist
Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...
from 2007 until 2014, during which time she won the Juno Award for Best New Artist and was nominated for several more. Lights initially supported Ghomeshi after he was accused of sexual abuse in 2014, but later dropped him as her manager, saying: "I rushed to defend my manager of 12 years. I am now aware that my comments appear insensitive to those impacted and for that I am deeply sorry".


Radio and television

In 2002, Ghomeshi became host of CBC Newsworld's ''
Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...
'', a show about the arts in Canada and abroad. ''Play'' ran for three seasons and won a
Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...
. He also wrote columns for ''
The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' and ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
''. Ghomeshi hosted the radio series '' 50 Tracks'' and '' 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version'' on
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...
and CBC Radio 2 (now CBC Music). From late 2005 until early 2006, he hosted a program on Radio One called '' The National Playlist''. From April 16, 2007, to October 26, 2014, Ghomeshi was the host of '' Q'', a program airing twice daily on CBC Radio One, and on over 170 stations in the U.S. through Public Radio International. As the host of ''Q'', he interviewed a range of musicians, artists, actors, and other notable figures, a list that included
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
,
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
, Barbara Walters,
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
,
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
, Jimmy Wales, and
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
. In 2012, Ghomeshi received the Gold Award for best talk show host at the
New York Festivals New York Festivals, are a collection of related annual arts and media awards based in New York City. The awards include the New York Festivals Advertising Awards, "Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness" AME Awards, Bowery Awards, Global Awards, R ...
' International Radio Awards. By 2013, with ''Q'' had a weekly audience of more than 2.5 million listeners weekly in Canada and 550,000 listeners in the U.S. During his time as host of ''Q'', Ghomeshi many times booked guests who shared his agent and lawyer without disclosing this connection. Ghomeshi hosted the 2009 Dora Mavor Moore Awards ceremony. He was set to host the November 2014
Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...
awards gala but was replaced in October by comedian
Rick Mercer Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and '' Rick Merc ...
. That same month, he was replaced as the host of the CBC competition ''
Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...
'' by
Wab Kinew Wabanakwut "Wab" Kinew (; born December 31, 1981),
''