Jian Ghomeshi is no longer suing Canadian Broadcasting Corp. following his firing from the network amongst sexual assault accusations. He has now been charged related to those accuastions.
Ghomeshi said he was suing for defamation and breach of trust.
CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson told iMediaEthics by e-mail yesterday, “I can confirm the suit has been dismissed with costs in favour of CBC. It still needs to be formalized through the courts by way of a court order and there is still the grievance that was filed by Mr. Ghomeshi through the CMG (Canadian Media Guild).”
As iMediaEthics has reported, Ghomeshi was fired Oct. 26. Within week of his firing, three women contacted the police with accusations of sexual assault. He said he would sue the CBC for the firing. An Alberta newspaper asked if the CBC would have a conflict of interest in reporting on the accusations against Ghomeshi since he was suing the corporation.
Ghomeshi was charged with four counts of Sexual Assault and one count of Overcome Resistance – Choking today. According to the Toronto Police website announcement of the charges, “A sexual assault is any form of unwanted sexual contact. It includes, but is not limited to, kissing, grabbing, oral sex and penetration.”
He was “released on $100,000 bail after he was arrested and appeared in a downtown courtroom,” the Toronto Star reported.
iMediaEthics asked Marie Henein, Ghomeshi’s lawyer for comment. We received in response the following press statement:
“Mr. Ghomeshi will be pleading not guilty. We will defend and respond to these allegations fully and directly in a court of law. It is not our practice to litigate matters in the media. This case will be no exception. What we have to say will be said in a court of law. We have no further comment and Mr. Ghomeshi will not be making any statements.
The Globe and Mail reported Nov. 25 that Ghomeshi “has withdrawn a $55 million lawsuit against the public broadcaster.”
UPDATE: 11/26/2014 2:44 PM EST Updated with statement from Ghomeshi’s lawyer