Evaluating Jian Ghomeshi’s crisis response
The Canadian radio personality’s initial response to allegations of sexual violence was hailed as great PR, but it seems to have fallen apart.
The fall from grace by popular Canadian media personality Jian Ghomeshi has had PR tongues wagging across Canada.
What started out as a seemingly sterling reputation management strategy devolved into a situation in which his crisis PR agency parted ways with Ghomeshi.
Ghomeshi was the host of the CBC radio show “Q,” heard across Canada every weekday morning and syndicated to 180 U.S. stations. When news broke of his sudden dismissal by the national broadcaster, Ghomeshi and his crisis management team initiated a textbook plan.
On the heels of the corporate announcement about the firing of Ghomeshi, iPhones all over the country were suddenly ablaze with the news of Ghomeshi’s $55 million lawsuit against his employer for “breach of confidence and bad faith.”
Soon afterward came his 1,500-word tell-all Facebook post assailing “false allegations pursued by a jilted ex-girlfriend and a freelance writer.” Those claims purported Ghomeshi’s preference for “rough sex” and alleged sexual violence against other women he had dated.
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