Jian Ghomeshi, former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio show Q who was fired from the CBC in October 2014 after allegations of sexual assault were filed against him, will no longer face his final day in court. On Wednesday, Ghomeshi issued a formal apology and signed a peace bond in court, after which the Crown withdrew the charge. The apology did not go into specific detail about his actions, but he spoke about his "deep regret and embarrassment."
Ghomeshi, 48, who wrote the memoir 1982 and is a former host of the Giller Prize Gala, had been facing multiple allegations of sexual assault and violence, from various women.
After being acquitted in March of four previous counts of sexual assault and one count of choking, he was set to go to trial next month for a final sexual assault charge. The complainant, former CBC employee and author of the memoir Corked, Kathryn Borel, however decided not to pursue the case.
Borel alleged that, among other incidents, Ghomeshi approached her from behind at work in 2008, and thrust his groin into her backside repeatedly, simulating sex. She said she agreed to the apology and peace bond—which includes the stipulation that Ghomeshi not contact her for one year—because "it seemed like the clearest path to the truth." She said that "a trial would have maintained his lie, the lie that he was not guilty."
Ghomeshi, speaking in court on Wednesday, said: "The past 18 months have been an education for me. I have reflected deeply and have been working hard to address the attitudes that led me, at the time, to think that (my behavior) was acceptable."
