Nygard files new defamation lawsuit against CBC

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This article was published 28/08/2023 (773 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Winnipeg fashion executive Peter Nygard is suing the CBC and one of his accusers for defamation, following coverage of criminal charges against him in Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and the United States.

In the court filing, Nygard accuses the national broadcaster of “conspiring” with one of the women who has accused him of sexual assault.

Noting a July 11, 2023, CBC article was more detailed than coverage from other news outlets, Nygard’s lawyers filed a statement of claim Aug. 23 accusing the CBC of conspiring “to write a defamatory article, with one of several purposes being to prevent Mr. Nygard of obtaining Manitoba bail on the tertiary ground.”

In July, Nygard, 82, was charged with one count of sexual assault and forcible confinement, stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred in Winnipeg in 1993.

When deciding whether to grant bail, judges must consider three grounds: whether the accused will show up to court, whether the public will be sufficiently protected, and whether the public would lose confidence in the administration of justice if the accused were released.

Nygard remains in custody in Toronto.

He was denied bail by a Manitoba judge while facing extradition to the U.S. in 2021, and was denied bail again in Toronto in 2022 on the Ontario charges. He waived his right to a bail hearing in Quebec.

Nygard is facing nine counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement for alleged incidents in the Ontario capital. He also faces two sex crime charges in Quebec, and nine sex-related charges in the U.S.

None of the charges has been tested in court.

In the lawsuit, Nygard cites The Fifth Estate documentary coverage dating to 2020, accusing the CBC of participating in a “relentless” campaign to damage his public reputation and make it more difficult for him to get bail.

“The plaintiff states that the campaign by the CBC defendants to keep the details of the Winnipeg complaints in the public eye — despite being provided with proof to undermine the core of those allegations — has a significant prejudicial effect on the plaintiff’s reputation, which in turn has an implicit negative effect on the tertiary ground analysis,” the statement of claim reads.

“While any trier of fact knows that public confidence in the administration of justice cannot be measured through sensationalized stories designed to attract as much attention as possible, this relentless media campaign must be identified for what it is: a campaign to keep the plaintiff’s reputation tarnished by heightening negative public sentiment against the plaintiff with the goal of making it more difficult for the plaintiff to obtain bail.”

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The 24-page statement of claim names the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a The Fifth Estate investigative journalist, and a B.C.-based complainant who has spoken publicly about allegations Nygard held her captive and raped her.

In the lawsuit, Nygard argues those are false allegations.

Nygard has repeatedly sued the CBC and The Fifth Estate, alleging defamation and libel over the years. This month’s claim says Nygard’s lawyers were communicating with the CBC as early as 2009, “that the sources of their information were not credible prior to their publication of defamatory broadcasts.”

The Free Press has reached out to the CBC for comment.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Katie May
Multimedia producer

Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.

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