Q weekly guest Elvira Kurt posts rant about Ghomeshi scandal

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      Toronto-based comedian Elvira Kurt has added her voice to the ever-growing chorus rallying against (and also cutting ties with) former Q radio host Jian Ghomeshi.

      Kurt hosts the game show Spin Off, starred on the Comedy Network's PopCultured with Elvira Kurt, was a CTV etalk Daily correspondent, and was a weekly guest on Q who presented a segment called—believe it or not—Cultural Hall of Shame. (Looks like Ghomeshi himself could now be featured on that. Allegedly.)

      As many of the developments in this scandal involved posts on Facebook, Kurt ripped into the Ghomeshi scandal in a scathing rant she posted on her Facebook page on November 3:

      There is no(w) such (a) thing as bad publicity.

      One week. It’s been one week. Of things I can’t un-read (that FB post: damage control passed off as a pitch perfect call to rally the troops… fuck you for trying to manipulate me), of images I can’t un-see (Punches. To. The. Head. … Jesus. Fucking. Christ.) and details I can’t un-know (the bear: I can’t even....)

      I am done. Done being distracted by BDSM. That’s a red herring and we all know it.

      I am done engaging with anyone trying to justify, rationalize or otherwise spin the issue of consent. Consent doesn’t need a context. Consent just IS. Consent is the only thing and it’s everything. If you don’t agree with that you are wrong. Also, shut the fuck up.

      I am done with anyone railing against the anonymity of the women. What do we all know about ‘He said / She said’? That it’s a myth. It’s never ‘He said / She said’. Never. It’s always 'He said / 'She's lying!' or 'He said / She asked for it!' or 'He said / She should have known better!' Etc. Yeah, done.

      I’m done with anyone wondering why ‘none of them went to the police’ or why some of them ‘went back’. Women are raised from birth to be accommodating, we are socialized from girlhood to be pleasers and if we experience sexual violation of any kind, to blame ourselves and or keep quiet about it. Society reinforces that mentality for the rest of our lives by vilifying, bullying and terrorizing those of us who do speak out. What bullshit. Enough.

      Re-direct your ignorance and your misplaced anger, I’m done with that too.

      And don’t tell me about that ‘one woman’ you know who ‘lied’. We’re not talking about ‘her’. Or ‘crazy jilted exes’. We’re talking about these women. And what they say happened. To them.

      I’m done having the debate that the women's claim are ‘just allegations’. Guess what? So are Jian’s.

      I’m done with men who are unwilling and unable to check their entitlement and privilege when it comes to women. Go fuck yourself, it’s all you deserve.

      I’m done with men who can’t meet even the minimum standard of decency unlike all of the men I know. But don’t take it from this angry lesbian feminist, let Owen Pallett tell you, man to man.

      Push has come to shove, again. This time, for me, the outcome is different. I’m done watching from the sidelines and venting only to people who think like I do. I won't be complicit in how women are treated in this world by my silence. Just like I’ll never be an apologist for anyone's sexual harassment, sexual violence, or sexual abuse. Ever. Period.

      Friday on Q was a repeat. There was no way I could do my weekly segment. It’s called the ‘Hall of Shame’. This shit’s too real for irony.

      …submitting a sex tape as proof of consent… that’s some next level delusion right there.

      I’m done being quiet. But I’ve only just started speaking out. Come find me on Twitter @ELtotheVEE

      Kurt spoke to the London Free Press, ahead of her appearance at a festival in London, Ontario, about Ghomeshi and she said she thinks that Q will survive Ghomeshi's firing. 

      Earlier this week, comedians Margaret Cho and Selene Luna also talked about the Ghomeshi scandal in their standup routines in Richmond, B.C. Cho expressed support for the Canadian women who spoke up about Ghomeshi and drew inspiration from them.

      Comments

      128 Comments

      Hermesacat

      Nov 5, 2014 at 2:08pm

      Must say, I'm more impressed with Elvira's post re. Jian than with anything I heard her say on Q in her weekly gig there.

      Still, there seems one topic that's conspicuous by its absence here. That is, people in the know are now saying that at least some of Jian's inappropriate "social habits" were well known among CBC-ers.

      Roberto Veri, a former Q producer, was interviewed by reporter Jesse Brown. The audio podcast is available online at Jesse's Canadaland site.

      Veri says he & some others at Q would sometimes make reference to Jian using a black joke gesture. They'd grab their own throats & hang their tongues out, as they'd heard stories of Jian choking women.

      Veri says he once witnessed Jian come up behind a female Q producer when she was standing, bent over her desk. Veri says Jian humped her 4 or 5 times, banging his pelvis against her.

      So, I'm a bit skeptical when I read CBC-er posts like Elvira's (& Strombo's) that imply they're completely "shocked, shocked!" about Jian's alleged behaviour. And the question remains, what did Elvira know, & when did she know it?

      Boris Moris

      Nov 5, 2014 at 3:07pm

      I'm shocked, completely and irrevocably shocked, Hermesacat, that anyone would dare use unemotional, sane and sensible logic at a time like this. Shame!!!!

      Stetler

      Nov 5, 2014 at 3:30pm

      An interesting post that would have been a lot better without the obscenities.

      Darcy Hula

      Nov 5, 2014 at 5:40pm

      Thank-you Elvira!
      I was raised by beautiful, honest, loving women and men.
      As a male it astonishes me at how we're still walking around with a club, dragging women into our caves.
      WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!

      Eva Francis

      Nov 5, 2014 at 6:18pm

      Elvira...did you see anything,hear anything....unusual on the show. Is this news to you?

      Right on

      Nov 5, 2014 at 6:35pm

      Elvira's post is the best I have read yet. Captures what many women, I bet, feel about this whole disgusting situation. I know I do.

      Thank You

      Nov 5, 2014 at 6:52pm

      Good one, Elvira. xox

      Trixie B

      Nov 5, 2014 at 8:43pm

      Thank you. Just read two really awful, hateful coloumns by two female 'journalists'. Just so painfully hurtful to the victims of abuse. When we stand up, we are victimized again. And now with the internet we are victimized globally and forever. Of course we are anonymous. Thank you for standing up, so vocally and publicly.

      Tyler J

      Nov 5, 2014 at 10:10pm

      If you're a weekly guest on a radio show, you show up at the studio an hour or less beforehand, you do your segment, you engage in pleasantries, say your goodbyes, and go home. To suggest Elvira is among those "who should have known" is ridiculous. She wasn't his boss or producer or coworker. She didn't spend 60 or 40 or even 2 hours a week with him. She was a contributor. So save your what did they know and when did they know it questions for those in positions of authority.

      Rob

      Nov 6, 2014 at 6:17am

      Hermescat: what you take from this post is that Kurt is somehow complicit in these crimes? You're f$&@ed.