Trial of Jian Ghomeshi

In 2010, the producer of Q, Kathryn Borel, approached her union, the Canadian Media Guild, reporting[8] that Ghomeshi had repeatedly sexually harassed her starting in 2007.

[11] In 2012, journalism students at the University of Western Ontario were advised not to pursue internships at Q due to Ghomeshi's rumoured inappropriate behaviour toward young women.

"[16] 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 and that he denied this accusation.

[18] In early summer of 2014, reporter Jesse Brown contacted the CBC and warned that Ghomeshi's behaviour might have crossed into his work environment.

[17] According to Vice, Ghomeshi showed his bosses lewd text messages on a CBC-owned phone and graphic personal sex videos.

[19] Ghomeshi filed a $55 million lawsuit against the CBC, alleging that the broadcaster misused "personal and confidential information provided to it in confidence".

[25] He also filed "a union grievance alleging wrongful dismissal and defamation,"[26] and stated through his lawyer that he "does not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory.

[36][37] The CBC investigation was led by Janice Rubin, a prominent lawyer and leading authority on workplace harassment,[38] and the results were released on April 16, 2015.

[41] On January 5, 2015, the CBC placed Boyce and Todd Spencer, the executive director of human resources and industrial relations for English services, on indefinite leave of absence because of the Ghomeshi scandal.

[4] On day one of the trial, the first complainant testified that Ghomeshi made a "sudden switch from charm to brutality", and that he punched her in the head and pulled her hair.

[5] During cross-examination, Henein presented court with a series of emails written by DeCoutere in the hours following the alleged assault, including an email written hours after the alleged assault which read "You kicked my ass last night and that makes me want to fuck your brains out", a handwritten letter that said "I love your hands",[52] and a photo of her "fellating" a beer bottle in October 2005.

[5] The third complainant, who could not be named because of a publication ban, testified that Ghomeshi put his hands and teeth on her neck while they kissed on a park bench.

Days before testifying, she said that after inadvertently hearing that emails from the previous complainants were read out in court, she told police about a date she had with Ghomeshi after the alleged assault in which she had a consensual sexual encounter with him that she did not disclose earlier.

[54] The Crown asked the judge, Justice William Horkins, "...to allow a final witness to be deemed admissible, saying she would corroborate Ms. DeCoutere's version of events" on day six.

[5] Due to a snowstorm, the witness, actress Sarah E. Dunsworth, did not testify and instead a transcript of her statement to police and messages exchanged between her and DeCoutere were provided.

Justice William Horkins stated that the inconsistency and "outright deception" of the witness' testimony had irreparably weakened the prosecution's case.

[58] On May 11, 2016, however, the Crown withdrew the last remaining charge, involving the alleged sexual assault against former CBC co-worker, Kathryn Borel, after Ghomeshi signed a peace bond.

Tom Mulcair, then head of the NDP party, tweeted that he believed the alleged survivors and criticized the Canadian legal system.

[64] Andrew Burke, an associate professor of cultural studies at the University of Winnipeg, wrote "That was a total masterclass in misogynist, arrogant windbaggery just now from Judge Horkins.

Ghomeshi's sister also read a short statement expressing relief about the verdict and criticizing the lack of "due process" up to this point.

The case was also atypical in that the police solicited victims to come forward, and that some were very active with media interviews (DeCoutere conducted 19 herself) which were used against them in cross examination.

"[67] She had specific criticism of Tom Mulcair's comments: "When you are denigrating the legal system in which he worked ... not having read a word of transcript, and not having informed yourself of the case, that's disappointing and not something I would put much stock in.

"[68] In 2018, the federal government of Canada passed rape shield legislation limiting the extent to which past behaviour could be used against witnesses at sexual assault trials.