Ghomeshi was born on June 9, 1967 in London, England, to Iranian parents Farhang (Frank), a civil engineer, and Azar (Sara) Ghomeshi. When he was a child, he was teased by classmates, who called him "Blackie". According to Ghomeshi, he grew up in a Muslim household but elsewhere noted that his family was secularist and even celebrated Christmas and Easter. When Ghomeshi was seven, his father moved to Canada and got a job and Ghomeshi's family followed, first living in an apartment on Don Mills Road before settling in Thornhill, Ontario.

In the spring of 2014, Ghomeshi advised his employers at the CBC that the Toronto Star was looking into allegations by an ex-girlfriend that he had engaged in non-consensual rough sex and that he denied this accusation. The crisis management firm Navigator was hired to work for both Ghomeshi and the CBC.  In early summer of 2014, reporter Jesse Brown contacted the CBC and warned that Ghomeshi's behaviour may have crossed into his work environment. The CBC investigated and concluded that there were no workplace complaints against Ghomeshi. According to an investigation by the CBC's The Fifth Estate, "almost all known staffers on... Q said they were not contacted by CBC management as part of any investigation." Ghomeshi denied the accusations again and the Toronto Star declined to go forward with the story at that time.  In October 2014, Brown tweeted that he was working on a story that would be "worse than embarrassing for certain parties". Brown later said that he was referring to another story but Ghomeshi requested a meeting with CBC on October 23. During that meeting, the CBC viewed what it later described as "graphic evidence that Jian had caused physical injury to a woman". According to Vice, Ghomeshi showed his bosses lewd text messages on a CBC-owned phone and graphic personal sex videos.  On October 24, Ghomeshi announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the network to deal with personal matters. Two days later, the CBC terminated Ghomeshi's employment, with a CBC spokesperson saying "information came to our attention recently that in CBC's judgment precludes us from continuing our relationship with Jian." Ghomeshi subsequently released a "lengthy Facebook post" saying his dismissal was motivated by fear of an alleged smear campaign by an ex-girlfriend that according to Ghomeshi could release private details about his sexual life. Ghomeshi also said he refused an offer by the CBC to "walk away quietly." Chris Boyce, the head of CBC Radio, denied that such an offer was made.  Ghomeshi filed a $55 million lawsuit against the CBC, alleging that the broadcaster misused "personal and confidential information provided to it in confidence". He also filed "a union grievance alleging wrongful dismissal and defamation," and stated through his lawyer that he "does not engage in non-consensual role play or sex and any suggestion of the contrary is defamatory." Ghomeshi withdrew his lawsuit on November 25, 2014. The terms of settlement stipulated that Ghomeshi will pay the CBC $18,000 in legal costs.

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