2014 allegations and lawsuit
In the spring of 2014 Ghomeshi advised his employers at the CBC that the Toronto Star was looking into allegations by an ex-girlfriend that he had engaged in non-consensual rough sex.[33] Ghomeshi denied this accusation.[33] In early summer, a reporter contacted the CBC and alleged that Ghomeshi's behaviour may have crossed into his work environment.[33] The CBC investigated and concluded that there were no workplace complaints against Ghomeshi.[33] Ghomeshi denied the accusations again and the Toronto Star declined to go forward with the story.[33] On October 23, the CBC viewed what it later described as "graphic evidence that Jian had caused physical injury to a woman".[33] According to Vice Ghomeshi showed his bosses lewd text messages on a CBC-owned phone and graphic personal sex videos.[34] On October 24, Ghomeshi announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the network to deal with personal matters.[35] Two days later, the CBC terminated Ghomeshi's employment,[4] with a CBC spokesperson saying "information came to our attention recently that in CBC's judgment precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian."[4] Ghomeshi subsequently released a "lengthy Facebook post" [36] saying his dismissal was motivated by fear of an alleged smear campaign by an ex-girlfriend that according to Ghomeshi could release private details about his sexual life.[37] Ghomeshi filed a $55 million lawsuit against the CBC, alleging that the broadcaster misused "personal and confidential information provided to it in confidence".[38] He also filed "a union grievance alleging wrongful dismissal and defamation."[39] CBC has asked the court to dismiss the suit.[40] The Toronto Star published allegations by three women who said that they experienced violence from Ghomeshi without consent, as well as allegations by a former CBC colleague who said that Ghomeshi had sexually harassed her in the workplace.[3] A fifth woman gave an interview to CBC Radio's As It Happens on October 29, 2014, also alleging that Ghomeshi physically abused her on their first date.[41] By November 7, 11 women[1] and one man[42] had approached media outlets with abuse allegations against Ghomeshi.[43] Actress Lucy DeCoutere was the first woman to agree to the publication of her