Earlier today I posted a couple of links about former CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi, and my Facebook lit up like a proverbial Christmas tree. I wrote that in light of the ever-increasing number of women coming forward and telling horrific stories of how they had been assaulted by Jian Ghomeshi, that my feeling about the situation had changed.
I could accept that there had been one woman who had felt jilted by Ghomeshi. So aggrieved, she became vindictive and set out on a campaign of character assassination against our favourite BDSM participant. One. Woman.
Not nine.
By the end of the first week of this debacle, nine women had come forward with these terrible stories. How Ghomeshi would invite them to his home or hotel. How by way of greeting he would beat them upside the head, pull their hair, choke them until they were nearly unconscious, call them names you should not call anybody. Et cetera.
Today I learned that several schools of journalism had decided not to send any more interns to the "Q" CBC program, for fear that they would be mistreated by Mr. Ghomesh, as several had already been.
In light of these new allegations, I revised my opinion of this entire situation. I could no longer countenance or support Mr. Ghomeshi. There is no way that 9 women would come forward to report such things unless there were a lot of truth to them.
I was a fan of Ghomeshi's. He had a breathless approach to his program that was so un-CBC like that it seemed as if "Q" had taken over the airwaves from the CBC like some massive pirate broadcast.
Today, in light of these allegations, even that approach seems creepy. His morning greeting of "Hi there" makes me want to hurl. Every picture of him now reminds me of a leering pervert barely able to keep it in his pants. Even though he is nearly my age, he dresses in a way to evoke a persona much younger, which adds to the creepy, icky factor that is Mr. Ghomeshi's oeuvre.
Anyway, I wrote about my thoughts on my Facebook earlier today, and nearly everyone agreed with me. One person didn't though. She was in my face about this throughout the day.
I have known her for a very long time. I tolerated her outbursts and will continue to do so. It is my hope that she will come around to my way of thinking, which is that Ghomeshi needs help, but not as much as the many women who have come forward need help and support for what they have endured, and will continue to endure as this case inevitably makes its way through the courts, once the Toronto police have concluded their investigation and decided to charge Ghomeshi, that is.
I am embarrassed that I ever listened to that man and liked his show. Ashamed, even.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
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