TORONTO, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Eight women, now including actress Lucy DeCoutere, have stepped forward to accuse popular radio host Jian Ghomeshi of abusive behavior.
Ghomeshi, 47, was fired Sunday as the host of CBS Q over sexual allegations. Ghomeshi acknowledged the dismissal in a defensive Facebook post, charging his accuser with lying about their relationship and convincing other women to join her in a campaign of revenge against him. He is suing the public broadcaster for $50 million.
DeCoutere, 44, known for her role on the mockumentary series Trailer Park Boys, said she met Ghomeshi at a barbecue in 2003. She is the first of Ghomeshi's accusers to agree to be identified.
DeCoutere said she visited Ghomeshi in Toronto and had dinner, then went back to his house in Riverdale. They began kissing, she said, then he pushed her up against a wall, choking her with his hands around her neck and slapping her three times.
"That was something I had never experienced before," she told the Toronto Star, adding that she left his house shortly afterwards in a taxi. "It did not escalate; it stopped."
Seven other women have made accusations against Ghomeshi going back to 2002:
- In 2002, Ghomeshi met a woman and invited her to the taping of Play, of which he was then the host. They went out to a pub after, and when he drove her to her car, she said he yanked her hair. She saw him again two weeks later and agreed to go to his home; she alleges he pulled her down to the floor and punched her in the head three times.
- In 2005, Ghomeshi ran into a woman at a Toronto music festival with whom he had gone out on several occasions. She said they went for a walk after the event, and he attacked her while they sat on a park bench. "He smothered me," she said. "I pushed him away. It really scared me... There was absolutely nothing consensual about what happened to me."
- In 2007, Ghomeshi allegedly told a CBC employee, "I want to hate [expletive] you" after a meeting with producers on Q. Three years later, he cupped her buttocks, she said. Her union representative at the CBC took her concerns to a manager and Q's executive producer, but Ghomeshi was never reprimanded.
(The CBC said Tuesday it has launched an investigation into her allegations.)
- In 2012, a CBC producer, who has now left the broadcaster, met Ghomeshi at a book signing. She said she told him it was "her dream" to work on Q, and he invited her to join him for drinks with friends after the event. She said he met her alone instead, and embraced her, and later asked her to come to his hotel room under the guise of fixing his contacts. She said he threw her against a wall, kissed and touched her forcefully. She said she performed fellatio on him "just to get out of there." Shortly thereafter, she received a job interview from Ghomeshi's executive producer. She declined his invitation to go out again.
- In 2012, a fan of Ghomeshi's met him at a book signing in a small eastern Canada city. He reached out to her online, and she said he began introducing violent language into their conversation. She eventually agreed to visit him in Toronto, and when she refused to come to his house, he met her at a University of Toronto dorm where she was staying with a friend. She said he threw her against a cement wall in a stairwell, choked her from behind, and hit her in the head.
- In 2012, at another book event in eastern Canada, a woman said Ghomeshi asked her lots of questions, then found her on Facebook. He sent her a message and an invitation to get in touch. They had dinner, and he introduced sexualized violent language into their conversation, but assured her it was all fantasy. She agreed to come to his house, and when she arrived, he threw her against the wall and demanded she perform fellatio. He struck her in the head, put his belt around her neck and "yanked it." She alleges him of whipping her back with the belt and leaned his body weight against her during intercourse so she couldn't breathe.
- In 2013, a woman said she had gone on a few dates with Ghomeshi when he invited her to his new home in Toronto beach, where he then told her she might be "the one." He then kissed her, pulled her hair and "smacked" her. When she objected, he said he would need to see if they were sexually compatible. He slapped her again, pushed her to her knees and forced her to perform fellatio. She said he bit her hard enough to leave marks on her breasts, thighs and back. She left without saying goodbye.
In his Facebook post and through his lawyer, Ghomeshi claims he is being judged for consensual rough sex.
"I voluntarily showed evidence that everything I have done has been consensual. I did this in good faith and because I know, as I have always known, that I have nothing to hide. This when the CBC decided to fire me," he wrote.
