Musician and author Amanda Palmer has decided that she will not be including a speaker at the Toronto, Ontario, Canada stop of her book tour, at this time. Originally, she had reached out to former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi to fill the onstage interview slot in Toronto; however, with the recent allegations against him, she has decided that he will not be joining her.

The former CBC host has been accused by eight Canadian women of abusive behavior – including allegations of beating and choking them during intimate moments without warning, or gaining their consent, and workplace harassment, according to the Toronto Star.

Ghomeshi, aged 47, was fired on Sunday from his position hosting Q, a flagship radio program for the CBC. He filed a lawsuit the following day. Ghomeshi has alleged that “CBC made a “moral judgment” that his practice of a bondage-sadism sex life was wrong,” according to the Toronto Star. The Toronto Star is also reporting that he is suing the CBC for 55 million (Canadian) dollars for defamation and breach of trust. They reached out to Ghomeshi’s lawyers and PR team for a comment on these allegations to no avail.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

On Thursday, October 30th, 2014, Palmer posted to her official Facebook page saying that she was aware of the concerns surrounding Ghomeshi, writing: “i see all your thoughts and it is my personal style to never shut down a conversation or run away from the fire: a philosophy that often (as you’ve seen before) lands me in hot water.” And, stating that she had yet to make a decision about his involvement, or not, at the Toronto book tour stop.

She also wrote that she is in the midst of making a musical with students at Bard College, which “deals directly with the painful aftershocks of sexual abuse, rape culture and lack of communication. and i’m about to publish a book about how communication and openness trumps anger, hate and fear. these things can’t be coincidental.” Palmer closed by encouraging her fans and readers to continue having a discussion about the larger issues at play, but to be open, kind, and most of all respectful.

Today – October 31, 2014 – we learned via a blog post that Palmer is standing in solidarity with those victimized, and in response to the public outcry over this developing story, Ghomeshi will not join her onstage.

She took to her official website blog to explain her stance, and addressed her feelings on the issue of women and consent.

Palmer wrote:

“to those of you who have engaged in the conversation in a thoughtful, compassionate, calm way, i hug you. thank you.
to those of you who have stepped up and shared – on on my blog and on facebook – your own stories and feelings about sexual abuse and consent, i hug you even tighter.
and to those of you who are seeing yourselves and your own experiences reflected in these women coming forward: i hug you the tightest.
listen: i am a woman who has spent a lifetime struggling to be believed myself – for so many reasons. and i am so happy to see a conversation about women and consent taking center stage right now. it means that we are moving forwards.”

She went on to say thank those in helped to keep her abreast of the developing story by sharing articles, as she had been in the midst of all day rehearsals ahead of the musical opening on Wednesday. And directly addressing Ghomeshi’s case, she wrote, “the story is incredibly, incredibly sad. given everything i’ve learned, and especially given how upsetting it would be to so many, jian will not be coming to the show in toronto.”

Read Amanda Palmer’s original Facebook post here, and scroll down her updated statement in full, below.

(“Update re: jian and toronto” – originally published to AmandaPalmer.net on October 31, 2014. )

“hi guys

thank you for patiently standing by while i figured out what to do about this situation with jian ghomeshi, who i invited months ago to be my on-stage interview guest in toronto as i tour the book.

to those of you who have engaged in the conversation in a thoughtful, compassionate, calm way, i hug you. thank you.

to those of you who have stepped up and shared – on on my blog and on facebook – your own stories and feelings about sexual abuse and consent, i hug you even tighter.

and to those of you who are seeing yourselves and your own experiences reflected in these women coming forward: i hug you the tightest.

listen: i am a woman who has spent a lifetime struggling to be believed myself – for so many reasons. and i am so happy to see a conversation about women and consent taking center stage right now. it means that we are moving forwards.

i am *not* happy to see people flinging insults, using violent language and wishing harm on others. when that happens, it means that we are moving backwards.

i have spent the last few days, doing my best amidst all-day rehearsals for a musical that opens on wednesday, to read and follow all of the stories that are coming out. thank you to everyone for sharing forward all of the articles and content, you’ve helped me. the story is incredibly, incredibly sad.

given everything i’ve learned, and especially given how upsetting it would be to so many, jian will not be coming to the show in toronto.

i’ll see many of you soon, the tour starts in about a week.

meanwhile: may we all hold the space – in the physical world and on the internet – to take care of each other. we’re in this one together, friends. please don’t forget that.

xxx
a”