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LISTS OF EVIDENCE
Received a barrage of sexual harassment via social media content in the summer of 2020. Several songs rec’d (mostly onSpotify) characterize much of this content:
1. “Live in Peter’s Attic” playlist (Charlie Burg), 1st track “Instead of My Room.”
2. “Too Repressed” (Sometymes Why).
3. “All The Good Girls Go To Hell ” (Billie Eilish)
4. “Bury a Friend” (Billie Eilish)
Charlie Burg was intended as racist, mocking commentary on my cultural background and mental health. It eludes to the crazy Caribbean woman living in the attic in the novel, Jane Eyre, and suggests it is all I would ever amount to in their world(note: I never listened to this nor needed to for it to have impact). The Sometymes Why song, after listening, requires no further explanation. Both Billie Eilish songs convey the harassers attitude towards myself and everyone else. “All The GoodGirls Go To Hell” announces his intention to use Sussman’s vacation as an opportunity for sustained harassment directed at me (then an annual pattern). “Bury a Friend” indicates how his lack of intent to negotiate a deal, settlement or otherwise, now dates back more than three years.
Three of these were conveyed to Sussman (8.27.20) due to how disturbing they were, in addition to several Instagram posts of death threats. In mid-Nov 2020, was told a consequence of bringing evidence against Sussman and his team could be accidental death, and how I would always be superfluous to a white context. This pattern continued and the increasing volume of messaging was documented almost daily for a 6-week period (see Fall 2020 Timeline, 12.30.20).
TITLES: books, films, articles, etc.
Much of the following have been captured by screenshots with date-stamped metadata and/or were previously included in harassment logs. Most book titles have shown up numerous times over the last few years (amazon, audible, etc),sometimes for weeks or months at a time, despite being a significant departure from my usual media consumption (heavily tied to my studies for the duration). Most harassment messages were derived from content popular with rural-leaning, white communities (content I rarely consume). This is a small cross-section of harassing content. It’s unlikely these were algorithmically-driven. It’s unlikely they all came from the same person. It’s unlikely Sussman’s sons were not involved.
sexual harassment
• Book titles, mostly – “Stories of the Stalked” (3.23.22), “The Invisible Man” (6.24.22), “Alone With You in the Ether” (5.20.23), “Lessons in Chemistry” (7.4.22), “The Ethical Slut” (7.21.22), “Masturbation as a Spiritual Practice” (instagram, 8.27.2020), “Hustle Harder” (ad w/ men’s shorts unzipped, 8.26.20), “Greedy: Notes From aBisexual Who Wants Too Much” (7.14.22), “It Begins With Us,” “It Ends With Us”
• Rec’d a barrage of slut-shaming messages (11.2020) after searching online for pajamas during a pandemic lockdown (see Fall 2020 Timeline / 12.30.20).
• Rec’d an influx of messages over Xmas (12.24-26.2020) about raunchy sex, dildos, sex with old men, tacky lingerie, in addition to the usual gold-digger messages (see Fall 2020 Timeline / 12.30.20).
• Have been sent messages by staff impersonating Sussman (3.5.22, 12.2022, 4.30.23), telling me to meet him in the lobby or at a nearby gallery (to discuss harassment complaints, settlements, settlement advances, etc), only to later (after no one shows up), be bombarded with messages calling me a slut, gold-digger and wanting to have sex with me.
• Rec’d an Instagram post (8.2022) with penguins saying, “If you be with me, the bullying stops.”
• In the early stages of being diagnosed with cancer (12.2022), rec’d three marriage proposals, one of which was creepy/ threatening.
predatory themed sexual/ harassment/ death threats
• Book titles, mostly – “Righteous Prey” (9.21.22), “Rules of Prey” (9.8.21), “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” (9.26.22), “I Care Alot” (trailer, 3.13.21), “Last Seen Alive” (film title, 9.18.2022), “Think Again”(1.6.2022), “Sign here: You’re dead” (6.2.2021), “Hopefully the year ends before you do” (instagram, 8.12.20), “Create theFuneral You Want to Have” (instagram, 8.12.20), “The Unthinkable Can Happen Anywhere” (ad - car crash,8.18.2021), “Monster & Mayhem Await” (ad, 7.26.21), “An Accidental Death” (5.10.23), “Dr. Death (podcast, 8.24.21), “The End of the World is Just Beginning” (8.27.22), “’The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster’ Review:Death Transforms Her” (NYT article, 6.10.23), “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations” (5.10.23)
• After searching online for how to file a police report for criminal harassment (7.20.21), was bombarded with ads for an old podcast (“The Pit”) – about a woman’s mysterious disappearance – along with ads saying, “Consider carefully.”
• In response to an essay I wrote on sexual harassment to educate Sussman’s board on the issue (3.2019), rec’d an article on tactics used by the Israeli spy firm retained by Harvey Weinstein to oppress his victims.
• From Jan-Jul 2021, there are 17 instances of logged messages labeled as either “threats” or “death threats” from ads, newsletters, songs, film trailers and other sources (see 2021 Harassment Summary, 7.20.21).
mocking/ dismissive
• Book titles, mostly – “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” (9.30.22), “Unfuck Your Brain” (podcast, 7.3.22), “TheMaster’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” (9.30.22), “Such Sharp Teeth” / “Jackal” (9.21.22), “Up Jumped The Devil” (5.8.23), “The Idiot” (9.7.22), “Can’t Hurt Me” (6.8.2021), “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess” (6.8.21), “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It” (6.8.2021),
• “Made for Love” (trailer, 5.2021) – Mocks my attempts to extricate myself from this situation. Version received said I’d be worthless if a billionaire wasn’t chasing me (see 2021 Harassment Summary, 7.20.21).
racist/ misogynist
• Book titles, mostly – “The Ape that Understood the Universe” (8.27.22), “A Primate’s Memoir” (5.3.23),“Tremendous: The Life of a Comedy Savage” (5.10.23), “When Race Trumps Merit” (6.5.23), “’Apes TogetherStrong’ Review: Rooting for the Small Investor” (NYT, 6.5.2023), “’The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster’ Review:Death Transforms Her” (NYT article, 6.10.23), “Apecoin” (spam emails, throughout 2022), “The White Saviours”(podcast, 8.27.2021)
• Received a series of “witch” related context-specific messages – “Witch” (podcast, 8.26.23), “India Struggles toEradicate an Old Scourge: Witch-Hunting” (article, 5.15.23), “Resting Witch Face” (instagram ad featuring a witch, 8.19.20 – relates to an article rec’d a year prior from the harasser: “Resting Bitch Face”)
• On two separate occasions, my harassment complaints were compared to the inherited legacy of indigenous genocide, saying if they can work with their oppressors, so can I; indicates they don’t see anything wrong with this behaviour (see 2021 Harassment Timeline, 7.20.21)
• Racial bias bred assumptions of lower social class among Sussman’s board, staff and family, despite evidence to the contrary, with consistent commentary of how I am a failure and minorities (like myself) need charitable help.
• The pervasive industry culture seems one of a socialized attitudinal low-class rural white (or similar), who see other’s ethnicity as relatively lower class to theirs without the ability to discern basic indicators of social class (ie.intrinsic racism).
Behavioural Pattern
• Harassment comes in waves across different platforms, mostly as ads I am unable to capture quickly enough.Whenever I try to raise the harassment issue, I am inundated with ads for prescription meds, mental health, psychiatric help or rehab centres (6.1.20, 8.29-30.21), and patronized with quotes (see 2021 Harassment Timeline,7.20.21).
• Raised concerns early on with Sussman that the harasser was intentionally testing my trauma boundaries(6.23.2019, elaborated further 6.30.19 and 7.6.19). This has since been subsequently transmitted in exponential volume through staff, content and automation. Since 2020, the harassment expanded to Sussman’s sons and staff (managed by Steven Silver), and became exponentially more invasive and sinister, which was reflected in my subsequent responses. As of Fall 2020, it was clear this was more than just one or two people (see 2019-20 Response Log, 7.18.21).
Responses
In addition to the article #coercion (8.7.2020) published to Medium, the 2019-20 Response Log, captures sixteen (16) attempts to bring the severity of the harassment issue to Sussman and his board’s attention during that year.
Sexual harassment increasingly provoked rants (3.7.22, 3.19.22, 6.18.22, 1.2.23), mostly due to Sussman’s staff’s consistent (attempted) use of assumed sexual relations with Sussman as a bargaining chip in all negotiations, including resolution of a harassment settlement. This has made every interaction offensive and uncomfortable. Not only has this continued for several years, but shortly after Sussman was announced to have remarried in early 2023, his staff shifted this assumption to Sussman’s brother (neither of whom I have ever met).
A stalled harassment settlement has been in negotiation, however, I need assistance compiling evidence and devising a legal case. I am willing to offer a percentage of the settlement amount for a human rights lawyer, investigative journalist and tech team willing to invest the time to research the issue upfront. Additional bonusing is on offer if systemic change is garnered (throughout the university system, the media industry value chains, government organizations and funding bodies).
The settlement amount is, in my view, fairly substantial and has grown steadily in discussion each year the harassment has not ceased. As Sussman has always been a Canadian government-financed TV media industry exec (and subsequent billionaire), I see this case offering a bottomless pit of legal fees and cutting-edge legal case studies – in areas of Canadian (state-sponsored) media, spyware, privacy, harassment and cyberstalking, intertwined with racial and gender discrimination.
Here is how I view approaching this:
1. A legal assessment of Sussman’s conduct as a prominent Canadian media industry executive, board chair of a Canadian public holding company (recently defunct), and an advisor for The Creative School programs and faculty at the Toronto Metropolitan University.
2. A legal assessment of Sussman’s current and former board, their conduct vs. obligations on this issue, history of financial (and other) scandals and failed companies. This holds relevance due to how heavily government subsidized Canadian media industries are (across every level of the media industry value chain). It may also be worthwhile to dig into individual board member’s personal financial dealings, to add more granularity to their profiles and culture.
3. An assessment of personal liability each board member should incur (across Sussman’s companies) and anybroader legal repercussions/ penalties for perpetuating misconduct for such a duration, including the possibility ofcriminal charges.
4. A legal assessment of Charles Falzon’s role (Dean, The Creative School), his conduct vs. ethical obligations to theToronto Metropolitan University students amid harassment concerns, his dismissal of the issues, and how thisinfluences the broader community as a feeder institution to multiple media verticals, and its ecosystem of creativestartups.
5. An assessment of Steve Levitan’s role (contract lecturer, The Creative School) relative to unethical conduct,exploiting student-professor trust for personal profit, and being the institutional conduit between the TorontoMetropolitan University and illegal Canadian television industry practices – abusive, exploitative behaviour,intellectual property theft, posing as an unauthorized broker of work not for sale (all things Sussman, his boardand staff have perpetuated).
6. An investigation into the financial transactional history between Sussman (including his companies and their affiliates), and Charles Falzon, Steve Levitan and Ian Mirlin over the last six years, to determine where priorities align and allegiances prevail.
7. A cultural assessment of Sussman’s organizations, individual staff and board members. There is evidence to suggest the group is predominantly Jewish, a significant proportion are apartheid-era raised white South Africans, with staff derived from local communities in Canada analogous to these, who are more inclined to adopt apartheid-type views, Asian-hate behaviours and control tactics (ie. rural Nova Scotia and Alberta, relatively low income white suburbs like Oshawa, etc), which historically aligns with the television industry’s point-system, and in-part explains the racist, misogynistic, predatory nature and the maliciousness of their conduct. It would also explain why someone with my cultural and professional background and profile would want nothing to do with these people or the industry in this country.
8. A professional correlation between the harassment logs and existing cyberstalking profiles, to construct an accurate picture of: a) Sussman’s sons (Scott Oliver Sussman, Jack Elliot Sussman) as criminal harassers in isolation of b) the organization’s culture and c) the leadership (Steven Silver) and other members instigating the harassment and death threats -- to ensure a clear picture for a legal case against all three groups. In my view cyberstalking is foundational to their daily operations, and misconduct in a range of forms is the accepted norm, actively perpetuated by all levels of its leadership (and presumably their industry culture).
9. Investigative research into the technology component, how they control my computers, devices and printer (ie.illegal installation of spyware, IP address targeting, apple device vulnerabilities exploited by surveillance tech?)and how does one stop or prevent this? As I have never been an employee of Sussman’s nor received any benefit, financial or otherwise from them, the use of surveillance tech on my computers has always been an unconsented, illegal invasion of privacy, and uncontrolled, expansive harassment in the hands of Sussman’s staff and family.
10. Investigative research into their real estate holdings and/or rentals in my building complex, their occupants and/oruses. There are at least 6-9 condo units Sussman’s family and team occupy that face my unit from differentdirections, enabling visual surveillance. I would like to know when they were acquired and occupied, alongside acomparative analysis of demographic profiles of theirs and the majority of the residents here. I expect a significantethnic and income divergence exists in these profiles, begging the question why would Sussman specificallychoose this building and those units?
11. An assessment of whether a court application for a peace bond is an adequate mechanism (amongst others) to legally limit Sussman’s access to my computers, devices and printers, to legally prevent the ongoing harassment, and to potentially legally limit Sussman’s family and staff’s access to the building complex (given the duration of the issue, damage to my electronics equipment, and a demonstrated ability to breach building security and access my floor). It is questionable whether their use of those units is appropriate for a residential building complex, and public scrutiny of their activities and removal of the occupants are more than warranted.
12. An analysis of appropriate and effective mechanisms for addressing these issues in multinational private and public companies in regulated industries, and their absence within the Canadian media industry value chain. Sussman, his board and community affiliates in this case reveal the layered corruption Canadian government funding enables -- where mechanisms like NDA’s shield them from accountability in absence of any real mechanisms for redress (a media landscape looking to government funding bodies as their true north, not markets, conspires to unhealthy corporate practices in this country). This carries through to educational institutions who funnel talent to these companies and are practiced at deflecting issues not aligned with their cultural interests.
13. A mapping of current and former employees (where they came from and have gone), to demonstrate how far reaching these issues are, for industry illustrative purposes and as a basis for compiling evidence for criminal charges against several of Sussman’s employees. Given the change in board and staff due to Sussman’s failed companies amid the ongoing harassment, a mapping of individuals’ movements will likely illustrate this is both a cultural and industry issue, not a question of a few bad apples.
Harassers
Peter A. Sussman / See also: X, Forresters Hall, Mad Rabbit - (former CEO of Alliance Atlantis, Board Chair and co-founder of Kew Media, program advisor of The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University, in-class guest)
Steven Silver (former CEO of now defunct Kew Media, in-class guest)
Scott Oliver Sussman (Sussman’s son)
Jack Elliot Sussman (Sussman’s son)
Several current and former unidentified staff (5-8) of Sussman's, many carried over from Kew Media
Accountable Intermediaries
Charles Falzon / See also: X - (Dean of The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University)
Steven S. Levitan / See also: Protocol Entertainment (contract lecturer The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University)
Ian Mirlin (co-founder of Harrod & Mirlin, now FCB Toronto)
Sussman's Board (from now defunct Kew Media)
Peter A. Sussman / See also: X, Forresters Hall, Mad Rabbit
Steven Silver
Julie Bristow / X
Sara Curran / See also: X, Foresters Hall
Madeleine Cohen
Patrice E. Merrin
Maurice Kagan
Nancy Reiss Tellem
David Fleck
Stephen N. Pincus
Wayne Purboo
Mark L. Segal
John Schmidt
Peter A. Sussman is known for his involvement in CSI and Schitt's Creek. He has companies across many Anglo countries each with staff who can repurposed for harassment.
Current board members, staff and network are unknown, however common Canadian media industry practice in failed companies is to rebrand and start anew with the same people, so there is assumed crossover at the board and staff levels.All the above share some complicity in the harassment since 2018, including several unidentified staff. My understanding is the harassment has been an ongoing discussion amongst the board members without steps taken to resolve or address the issue over the course of several years.
"CYOA Rhythms" was exhibited as part of the IGNITE exhibition series. Commissioned by the City of Mississauga (a Toronto-satellite city) for a group exhibit for the Pan Am & ParaPan Am Games, the work was installed at Mississauga's Celebration Square on Aug 3 & 10 from 8am - 8pm. Hosted by the Art Gallery of Mississauga, an artist talk on 'ideas of cultural citizenship' related to the work, was held Jul 27 @ 1pm via Twitter chat using hashtag #sharethelovesauga.
"CYOA Rhythms" was exhibited at the Medulla Art Gallery, Port of Spain as part of the New Media Program within the 2014 Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival.
"CYOA Rhythms" video installation was exhibited as part of The Carnival Project at the Littlefield Eco-Club, (in Gowanus) Brooklyn New York, hosted by Batala NYC on May 4, 2014.
My essay, "Taking Flight: Perspectives from the Depths of an Ideas Factory" was included in the Sarai 09: Projections reader. The reader series was developed by Sarai, the media arm of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi.
• In 2018/19, film and tv production spending in Canada (incl. foreign spending in the sector) was valued at $9.4billion – well above the future forecasted revenue of Bombardier in 2025 according to this article.
• In 2018/19, the $3.02 billion spent on TV production (excl. distribution, exhibition and television broadcast costs)was likely subsidized by the Canadian government.
Albeit apples-to-oranges, the comparison draws attention to the scale of government spending within an industry of roughly similar size to a multinational in a regulated field (where the behaviours outlined could not go unchecked),illuminating the absence of functional governance and mechanisms to address sexual/ harassment, cyberstalking and other inappropriate behaviours foundational to media industry culture in Canada (aka. white Canadian culture). It appears to be a norm for these inappropriate behaviours to be systemically perpetuated at all levels, including at the senior and advisory/board levels of industry and tertiary educational institutions, whose interests lie in maintaining high-profile connections to keep the historical flow of money and profile within their circles. Elsewhere, the situation outlined here would equate to one of the many definitions of what is commonly referred to as “state-sponsored corruption.”
According to the same study, the majority of Canada’s international treaty coproductions in the last decade were with theUK, France, and a small number of other European and Anglo-markets, denoting the sector’s ingrained cultural limitation and handicaps. When viewed through a global media industry lens, it is difficult to ignore the intangible cultural assets minority creators draw on and the growing markets they can access, which white Canadian creators and funders cannot.This can no longer be disputed.
While the legal implications here to Sussman, his board, staff, industry and affiliated institutions are the low hanging fruit, the intended audience for the overall outcomes are the rising minority creators/ media practitioners – to factually illuminate the need for a media industry cultural partition in Canada moving forward, as there seem to be few protections due to perpetuation of white (illegal) ingrained behaviours commonly dismissed as the norm or as insignificant. Minority creators already outperform their white counterparts (pretty much everywhere), due to deeper wells of history and culture they draw on (which white Canadians severely lack), and the established media institutions here have demonstrated they cannot serve.
Let's be clear.
I have never been part of the Canadian television and film industry, nor have I wanted to be. I am a new media/ multimedia artist + researcher, focused on cultures and narratives of the global south, designing interactive media. Prior to this, however, I spent over a decade in dozens of countries around the world as an international strategist + researcher in ad media –-- where I can say with absolute conviction, placing a multinational’s ad dollars in white Canadian film and television programming amounts to a professional fraud. Mostly due to its irrelevance, but also its consistent underperformance with audiences. The same is true in Canada, except ad spending in such programming is government mandated.I remain unconcerned, as algorithmically determined performance indices adopted by broadcasters around the world, will likely go far in eradicating white Canadian broadcast content in geographies it doesn’t belong in. However, the current industry-cultural dysfunction is unlikely to change due to the depth of Canadian government financing across the media value chain. If this were a more market-oriented environment, these situations could not go unchecked nor could the industry remain so white for so long. It’s very clear, the only reason this situation has been perpetuated by all parties concerned for years, is that I am not white nor male. All involved assume they are immune from repercussion because the government-financed system has always enabled this for them, and there is little reason to believe this will not continue.
Sussman has maintained (and housed) numerous staff + board members in the last five years, despite his failed holding company and a handful of industry slowdowns, who without much to do, have spent a not insignificant proportion of their time harassing, stalking and cyberstalking me (and presumably others). This staffing continuity, to some degree, can only be enabled by government financing in some form, as the economic environment during this period hardly justifies it.Meanwhile, in the past couple of years, Sussman has spent much of his time yacht racing in Ireland, where he entertains European film and television execs in his newly acquired hotel.
