2nd woman identifies herself in Ghomeshi allegations
Posted October 31, 2014 2:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The most recent woman to publicly come forward against ousted CBC-Radio personality Jian Ghomeshi is author and lawyer Reva Seth.
Seth posted a blog on Huffington Post Canada about how Ghomeshi was violent towards her one night during the brief period they dated in 2002.
The blog is the latest development in the Ghomeshi scandal. Several women have accused him of being physically violent to them without their consent during sexual encounters or in the run-up to such encounters.
Seth writes that she feared coming forward would lead to judgement and harassment online. It was only after she heard former Trailer Park Boys actress Lucy DeCoutere talk about a similar experience with Ghomeshi that she decided to go public with what happened.
DeCoutere was first to go on the record with the accusations in a Toronto Star story on Wednesday that said eight women accuse Ghomeshi of abusive behaviour.
DeCoutere’s name was the only one published in the Star piece. The names of the other complainants were not been published. DeCoutere also detailed her allegations in an interview that aired Thursday morning on CBC’s The Current.
Ghomeshi issued a Facebook post on Thursday saying: “I want to thank you for your support and assure you that I intend to meet these allegations directly.”
He added: “I don’t intend to discuss this matter any further with the media.”
DeCoutere’s accusations come after the Star carried allegations Monday from three women who said Ghomeshi was was physically violent to them without their consent. Ghomeshi — through his lawyer — responded that he “does not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory.”
DeCoutere — who is also a captain in the Royal Canadian Air Force in New Brunswick — said she is going public because she wants to help other women who are levelling more serious accusations against Ghomeshi.
Toronto police chief Bill Blair said on Thursday that police will not be investigating until a victim files a claim.
“The best evidence is a complainant and if the complainants come forward to us. But we’re not going to force them to come forward,” Blair said.
The CBC said it’s hiring a third-party company to investigate internal accusations against Ghomeshi and is providing counselling services to employees.
