Some of the comments doing the rounds on internet (keep in mind these are all unsubstantiated rumors):
1. I remember being 16 and totally inappropriately pursued by the lead singer of Moxy Fruvous, now known as Jian Ghomeshi, while at an outdoor music festival with my parents. Afterwards, upon returning to high school and my small town I was still shaken by the experience and went online to see if anyone else had had a similar experience. There were MANY —I remember chatting online with another young girl like myself who wrote to him online, drove to a show in her parents mini-van and ended up getting fucked in a public bathroom. Though neither of our experiences may be criminally prosecutable, I think it speaks volumes to the kind of inappropriate beyond consequences or mutual desires kind of guy he is while on the pursuit. You should look on their old fan boards and the like if they're still around.. I'm sure there are a lot of stories just like mine. I remember him having a real full-time predator sort of vibe and am not surprised by his latest headlines.
2. I was volunteering at a music festival in Canada where he was the MC once and he kept hitting on me. I met him the first day of the festival and I had no idea who he was but the older ladies I was volunteering with were positively swooning over him. He was flirting like crazy and asked how old I was, I truthfully told him that I was 16 and he was like wow you look like you are in your 20's but he kept talking to me, I am 22 now so this wasn't too long ago but he looked younger than he was so I didn't think it was too weird that he kept talking to me because I thought he was like late 20's/early 30's and honestly I liked the attention of an older guy (I had no idea how much older). He tracked me down the second day at my second volunteer location and would not stop talking to me, again asked how old I was, again I told him I was only 16, and again he said that he thought I was at least 20 (even though I had told him the day before) but he kept on flirting. On the third day he AGAIN asked how old I was and again I said 16 and he pretended like we had never had this conversation before, once again stating that I looked to be 20 (for context, people often think I am in junior high now and I didn't wear makeup at this music festival so no way did I look 20). He asked for my number and I gave it to him because I was dumb and 16 and although I had no idea who he was, everyone around me was giving me the impression that he was kind of a big deal. He asked me back to his hotel room and I was like ohh my friends are waiting for me at the campground byyeee. Then the festival ended and that's when the texts started. He was texting me like craaazy, I wish I had kept that phone because holy smokes, like 40 texts a day. I was flirting and texting back because I was young and dumb, but keep in mind I had told him 3 times that I was 16. Finally one day my mom asked me who I kept texting, and because I have never been able to lie to my mom, I told her. She flipped out, told me that he was 40, and told me to stop talking to me because that shit is hella creepy. I didn't believe her so she pulled up his wikipedia page and everything. I stopped replying to his texts but he kept saying if I was ever in Toronto we should "go for coffee" we all know what that means Jian. Whenever he's going to be in my home town he emails me to ask if we can meet up, and whenever I mention on facebook that I am going to Toronto he messages me.
3. I wish nothing but bad things for this douchenozzle. He, personally, is the reason that Moxy Früvous became persona non grata at the Iron Horse any longer. While I was chef there, I had to deal with these folks fair often, and they were nothing but a pain in the ass. Manager was a pain. Band was a pain. Jian was a pain. Their fans were a pain, and cheap to boot. Every time they took to the stage, we all groaned, because they were one of our least favorite acts in the world--at least when Cat Power got the boot, it was because she was pissed off at the turnout, and when she walked off stage it was with some verve, and while she never got another booking from us, we could at least understand her frustration--up there with The Bobs with true annoyance factor--forty five minute sound checks, done with the same repeated lyric of "Get on the Party Train" at differencing tones and levels, and thoroughly unpleasant people to deal with professionally. The straw that broke the camel's back for us though, wasn't the manager trying to weasel out of merch sale percentages that we handled, or trying to get a per diem despite having meals provided by the in house chef--which was me and Willy Nelson called our service "some of the best road food in the business"--but when Jian tried to get two of my 16 year old runners--essentially bussers--onto the tour bus. Yes, they were indeed girls, and pretty ones at that, and the doorman had to hold me back when we caught the manager trying to sneak the girls onto the bus without anyone seeing them get on--all the while promising them that they'd have "a really good time." Jian had struck up more than a couple of conversations with these girls, and they were flattered all to heck by the attention. When confronted, the manager blurted out that Jian had asked him to get these high school girls onto the bus, and back to the hotel--because apparently that would make it OK. We never booked them again. Not at any venue. Those two girls, we knew their parents. They were like family, and Jian pretty much preys on pretty, naive girls who want to be singers. He DID show up at the Horse a few times, with singer-songwriters that he was "helping" and it all had the same sleazy disgusting vibe, and it never kept him from hitting on every damn waitress or soundtech, and any time he did make it in with another act--never on the bill, and never on the stage, security was alerted that he would have zero contact with the runners. Our waitstaff was used to being hit on by musicians, and some were musicians themselves, and knew the sleazeball routine fairly well thanks to working with the Iron Horse and seeing it up close and personal, but our underage kids, we protected like mama bears. Fck this sleaze, and fck his excuses, and f*ck him and all his projects to feed his ego and fill his bed with dumb girls who believe half the crap he spouts. There are few terrible things I would not wish upon him, and only him. Jian Gohmeshi is a world class asshat and creeper
