Toronto police said that Jian was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking.
- Nov 27, 2014
AceShowbiz - Jian Ghomeshi, a former radio host at Canadian broadcaster CBC, was charged with sexual assault on Wednesday, November 26. According to a statement released by Toronto police, Jian was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of "overcome resistance - choking."
Jian's lawyer, Marie Henein, said her client would plead not guilty to the charges. "Mr. Ghomeshi will be pleading not guilty. We will address these allegations fully, directly in a courtroom," Marie told reporters outside the courthouse, "It is not my practice to litigate my cases in the media. This one will be no different."
Jian was released on C$100,000 ($88,645) bond after he affirmed that he understood the charges and conditions of the bail. He was ordered to surrender his passport and live with his mother in Ontario. He is scheduled to appear in court on January 8.
Jian was fired by CBC in October after the company claimed it had seen "graphic evidence" of the radio host sexually assaulting a woman. Jian defended his actions in a statement posted and then deleted on Facebook. He claimed that he did nothing wrong and that "everything I have done has been consensual."
The former "Q" host, who previously interviewed Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand and Paul McCartney, then launched a lawsuit against CBC for breach of confidence and defamation but decided to drop it on November 25.
