Jian Ghomeshi has re-emerged with a strange new podcast. Who exactly is he talking to?
A little more than a year since he was found not guilty of sexual assault (but less than 365 days since he publicly apologized for being a "demeaning" boss), Jian Ghomeshi is attempting a comeback.
Hi. For those interested, here is something I’ve been working on... https://t.co/IksyTcjAlZApril 10, 2017
The disgraced ex-CBC broadcaster resurfaced on Twitter Monday morning to announce a "new media creative project" podcast he calls The Ideation Project. His first topic? Exiles — a monologue focused on immigration and refugee politics (with only veiled references to being exiled in the eyes of the public). Ghomeshi coins words like “nowhere-ian" and perpetrates many bad rhymes in his trademark baritone. The site also promises original music (it's unclear whether it would be written and performed by the former Moxy Fruvous musician) and encourages "conversation" that goes beyond what's possible in "a 140-character environment, [where] nuance is often a casualty." (Much of his sexual assault trial was covered, in-depth, on Twitter.)
Ghomeshi knows he's got a small but devoted batch of defenders on that platform (and beyond it), who see him as a victim of social-media mob justice, and who staunchly view his acquittal as definitive proof of his innocence. Despite those who couldn't fathom a comeback for Ghomeshi — certainly not in Canada — he wouldn’t be the first high-profile personality to recover from allegations of sexual violence. (Exhibit A: President Donald Trump.)
So this podcast project might well be a referendum on the strength of that audience beyond the echo chamber that is Twitter, where the reaction Monday didn’t require much nuance — and could be summed up with a resounding "Nope.”
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