Jian Ghomeshi

Jian Ghomeshi

Jian Ghomeshi (born June 9, 1967 in London) is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician and producer who was raised in Thornhill, Ontario. Now based in Toronto, he is currently the host and co-creator of the national daily talk program, Q, on CBC Radio One and Bold TV. Since its inception in 2007, Q has garnered the largest audience of any cultural affairs program in Canada and has become the highest-rated show in its morning timeslot in CBC history.

Ghomeshi has interviewed an array of prominent international figures from prime ministers to sports stars and cultural icons. His feature interview subjects have included Woody Allen, Van Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Jane Fonda, Radiohead, Barbara Walters, Tom Waits, Apache Indian, William Shatner, Phyllis Diller and a television world-exclusive with Leonard Cohen.

Ghomeshi has hosted a number of television documentaries, including The End, Screw the Vote and the forthcoming Philanthropy Inc. and spent three years as the host of the Gemini Award-winning CBC Television program, Play. He has appeared as a contributor or guest on programs ranging from CNN Today and The National to Late Night with Conan O'Brien'(as a drummer for Moxy Fruvous)' mainly as a result of the Billy Bob Thornton interview.

He is also a writer whose editorials and opinion pieces have been published in The Washington Post, , The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and The International Herald Tribune. For a period in 2008 he was a weekly columnist for The National Post. Part of his radio interview with Leonard Cohen appeared in The Guardian

As a singer, songwriter and musician, Ghomeshi was a member of the multi-platinum (over 160,000 units sold) selling Canadian folk-rock group, Moxy Früvous. The band toured internationally during the 1990s and shared stages with a variety of artists including Bob Dylan, Ani Difranco and Elvis Costello. He continues to write and produce music through his company, Wonderboy Entertainment, and has been managing the career of young musician LIGHTS since 2001.

He has worked with many arts groups including the National Ballet, the Canadian Opera Company and the Radio Starmaker Fund, and he is a former member of the Stratford Theatre Festival board of governors.

Born in London, of Iranian descent, Ghomeshi lives in Toronto. In the fall of 2009, Jian was named Critic's Choice as “Best Media Personality” by Toronto’s NOW Magazine.

Hello! Magazine named Jian one of the "Most Beautiful Canadians" in 2010.

Career

Radio and television

He is a regular contributor to CBC News: The Hour, has hosted documentary specials for CBC Television, and acted as the substitute host on Sounds Like Canada in 2005 and 2006.

In 2002, Ghomeshi was hired as the host of CBC Newsworld's >play, a show about the arts in Canada and abroad. >play ran for three seasons, then was revamped in 2004 to focus on higher-impact specials such as >play Goes to Pot. He also did the weekly entertainment report on the Toronto edition of Canada Now. In January 2005, Ghomeshi became a regular on-air columnist for CBC News: The Hour.

In 2006, he finished a documentary series entitled The End, which described technology's effects on television, radio, and print as well as the future of the media. He hosted the radio series 50 Tracks and 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 2. From fall 2005 until spring 2006, he hosted a program on Radio One called The National Playlist.

Since April 16, 2007, Ghomeshi has been the host of Q, a program on CBC Radio One. The show airs all across Canada at 10 a.m and 10 p.m. (10:30 and 10:30 in Newfoundland).

Ghomeshi mixes opinions and interviews with subjects who have included Francis Ford Coppola, Jane Goodall, Bob Geldof, Michael Moore, Radiohead, Jimmy Wales, and former Prime Minister Paul Martin. He also hosted The Great Canadian Music Dream, Idols & Icons and Opening Night.

Ghomeshi's TV and radio credits include appearances on NBC Nightly News, CBS Sunday Morning, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Showbiz Today, All Things Considered, The National, Monday Report, Morningside, Just For Laughs and the Juno Awards. Ghomeshi hosted the 2009 Dora Mavor Moore Award ceremony.

Billy Bob Thornton interview

On April 8, 2009 Billy Bob Thornton appeared with his band, The Boxmasters, on Q, with Ghomeshi hosting. In introducing Thornton, Ghomeshi good naturedly mentioned Thornton's "day job" as "Oscar-winning screenwriter, actor and director", and added, "he's always intended to make music, he just got sidetracked." Though he wasn't asked about his film work, Thornton became annoyed, having previously told the show's producers that he didn't want to talk about his film career, and immediately began giving erratic answers to Ghomeshi's questions, such as "I don't know what you're talking about" and "I don't know what you mean by that," when asked how long the band had been together. When queried about his musical tastes and influences as a child, Thornton gave a long, unrelated answer about his favorite childhood magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland.

Thornton then expressed the cause of his anger, and Ghomeshi called for "a truce," after which Thornton began answering questions more directly. He did remain testy, however, complaining that Canadians didn't get up and move or throw things at concerts, and referring to them as "mashed potatoes without the gravy." Ghomeshi replied, "Oh, we've got some gravy up here as well." The interview caused an outpouring of criticism from across Canada and around the world for the actor's behavior. The following night, Thornton's band opened for Willie Nelson at Toronto's prestigious Massey Hall. A series of boos and catcalls erupted mid-set when Thornton tried to explain he liked Canadians, but not Ghomeshi and many fans chanted "Here comes the gravy!"

Thornton and The Boxmasters subsequently cancelled the rest of their Canadian tour, officially because a band member and several crew members caught the flu. Ghomeshi described the interview as one of the most difficult he has ever conducted and compared the international media exposure he received to being "in the middle of a tsunami."

Music

Ghomeshi doing an interview at Ryerson University

He joined Mike Ford, Murray Foster, and Dave Matheson to form Moxy Früvous in 1990, recording seven albums through 2000. He was credited as "Jean," rather than Jian, on the band's first album, but changed his name to Jian for subsequent albums.

He released his first solo EP, The First 6 Songs, in July 2001.

Ghomeshi has also managed musician Martina Sorbara (now of the band Dragonette) and produced for Dar Williams through his production company, Wonderboy Entertainment. He now manages Lights.

Writing

Ghomeshi's opinion pieces have been published in the Sunday Washington Post, The National Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and NOW.

External links

• Official site
• Profile for Q CBC
• Toronto Life profile
• The Ruckus - Audio Interview with Jian Ghomeshi from June 2009. Talking about the Canadian art scene, and the infamous Billy Bob Thornton interview