In the wake of Jian Ghomeshi's firing from the CBC and the radio host's subsequent version of the events that led to his dismissal, the Toronto Star has published a report in which three women allege that Ghomeshi sexually abused them, engaging in violent acts without their consent. Apparently the newspaper has been investigating the matter for months, but only ran the story after the radio personality published his controversial note to Facebook yesterday.

In that note, Ghomeshi refers to "a major Canadian media publication [that] did due diligence but never printed a story." Star Editor Michael Cooke explained his publication's decision in a brief article last night. "In view of Mr. Ghomeshi's extraordinary statement on Facebook on Sunday evening, and his high public profile in Canada, we now believe it is in the public interest to detail those allegations, which appear to have led directly to his sudden firing from the CBC."

The report outlines allegations from four women in total, three of whom claim "that Ghomeshi physically attacked them on dates without consent. They allege he struck them with a closed fist or open hand; bit them; choked them until they almost passed out; covered their nose and mouth so that they had difficulty breathing; and that they were verbally abused during and after sex."

When asked why they would not go public with their experiences, each woman told the paper that they feared an online backlash (as experienced by Carla Ciccone after her controversial XO Jane article) and "that a police report would expose their names and worries that their consent or acceptance of fantasy role-play discussions in text or other messages with Ghomeshi would be used against them as evidence of consent to actual violence."

The radio host has denied these allegations. Through his lawyer, Ghomeshi told the paper that he "does not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory."

Photo by Ryan Bolton