Fashion designer files new defamation lawsuit against CBC

A new lawsuit claims the CBC took the word of convicted con artists willing to unfairly accuse Peter Nygard of acting inappropriately with a woman, even though she swore his innocence.

The defamation case, filed Tuesday, is the latest in a long line of civil and even criminal suits brought forward by the fashion designer against the CBC in the wake of an unflattering Fifth Estate documentary about him that aired in April 2010. The suit also names Fifth Estate host Bob McKeown, as well as CBC employees David Studer, Morris Karp and Timothy Sawa.

According to the statement of claim, Nygard says the state broadcaster defamed him by implying he engaged “in inappropriate conduct with a woman, a woman who is a citizen of the Dominican Republic.”

According to the suit, the CBC were provided a notarized statement a day before the documentary aired from the woman, who stated nothing untoward happened when she visited Nygard Cay. Nygard’s then-girlfriend has also stated the fashion designer was with her in his private cabana every night the supposed victim was at the resort, as was his personal bodyguard.

The documentary noted none of those things when it aired the next day. Instead, it included a segment where McKeown referred to the woman as a “special package” brought to Nygard Cay in 2003 to help celebrate the fashion designer’s birthday. Soon after, convicted con artists Allan and Michelle May, two former Nygard employees, made statements on air which Nygard claims were false.

“The words ... are untrue and defamatory of Nygard in their natural and ordinary meaning, in the innuendoes contained therein, and in the context of the entire Fifth Estate program, including the manner, tone and presentation,” the lawsuit states.

“They were meant and were understood to mean that Nygard had lured the woman to his residence under false pretences, Nygard had acted inappropriately toward the woman, Nygard had sexually assaulted the woman and Nygard had committed a criminal act.”

Months after the documentary aired, Nyard’s private investigator, a former Scotland Yard detective, gave a sworn statement claiming he had been told CBC investigators had found the woman in the Dominican Republic prior to the documentary’s broadcast, but did not attempt to interview her.

Nygard is seeking damages.

A spokesman for the CBC, Chuck Thompson, declined comment.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.