Shortly after our story was posted online confirming that Jian Ghomeshi would indeed make his speaking engagement in Prince George next Friday, this comment was posted by someone with the user name "wrathofmom":
"I really question the logic of the Prince George Citizen giving Jian Ghomeshi a platform for his "I Didn't Threaten To Rape A Coworker And I Didn't Assault Three Women - I just like Kinky Sex" media blitz. You are sending a very clear message that your newspaper cares more about your bottom line - in the form of ticket sales and hall rental and Jian's speaker fee - than in showing support for the victims of domestic violence and workplace sexual harassment."
To address why The Citizen still plans to host this event, let's start at the beginning.
The Citizen's Special Events division booked Jian Ghomeshi for a speaking engagement months ago. The event, set for Vanier Hall on Sept. 27, was postponed, due to the illness of Ghomeshi's father, who died a few weeks ago.
Shortly thereafter, The Citizen confirmed through Ghomeshi's agent a new date of Friday, Nov. 7. Due to scheduling, the talk was now moved to the Civic Centre. As the host of CBC Radio One's Q program, Ghomeshi was arguably one of the most popular and recognized CBC personalities, along with Peter Mansbridge, Rick Mercer and George Stroumboulopoulos.
Ticket sales were going well, as CBC Radio fans and Q fans jumped at the opportunity to see and hear Ghomeshi in Prince George.
Citizen staff and management have been following the news closely since Friday, when it was announced that Ghomeshi would be taking an indefinite leave from Q. That attention has only increased since Sunday when the CBC fired him, Ghomeshi defended himself with a lengthy post on Facebook and the Toronto Star published the allegations of four anonymous women of assault and harassment.
To this point, Ghomeshi has not been found guilty of a crime, has not been charged with committing a crime, nor has he been the subject of any police investigation that The Citizen is aware of. While the accusations of sexual assault and harassment are serious, they have been made by four women protected by anonymity.
When first booked, Ghomeshi was expected to talk to his Prince George audience about the value of arts and culture in our communities and across Canada, as well as share some stories about his favourite interviews. On Q, Ghomeshi surrounded the celebrity interviews with serious discussions about sports, medicine, law and technology, as well as privacy, violence and sex.
He often ended these discussions and signed off his show with "to be continued." In light of Ghomeshi's Facebook post and the Star's expose, the discussion about privacy, the business of one's employer in the bedroom of their employees, gender politics and the intersection of violence and sex is just getting started and will most certainly continue in the days ahead. There are some who don't want to hear from Ghomeshi and that's fine.
Based on the traffic that came through the Citizen's front door Tuesday, however, there are far more people in Prince George who are either siding with Ghomeshi as a wrongfully-dismissed man forced to reveal his private sexual life to defend himself or who are on the fence but want to hear from the man himself before making up their mind.
Tickets are $40 each plus tax at The Citizen.
The choice to attend or not, to be part of the discussion or not, is yours, just as it's always been.
