Crown prosecutor stays charges against CBC News over 2010 Nygard documentary, citing delays

A decade-long legal battle between clothing manufacturer Peter Nygard andCBC News reached a conclusion Monday, after a Crown prosecutor stayed libel charges against the CBC because of delays.

CBCwas charged withpublishing defamatory libel throughprivate criminal prosecution, arare proceeding thatallowsprivate individuals without the help of police or Crown attorneys to bring criminal charges under a seldom-used portion of Canada's Criminal Code.

Crown prosecutorRuss Ridd stayed the charges Monday, citing delays.

"CBC has always stood by its journalism covering the activities of Mr. Nygard. We are relieved the Crown has agreed there is no public interest in allowing this malicious prosecution of our journalists to continue," a CBC spokesperson said via email on Monday.

CBC News has reached out to the Crown attorney and Nygard's lawyer, Jay Prober, but neither immediately responded.

The libel charges stem from a 2010documentary produced byTheFifth Estatecalled Larger than Life, which focused onNygard.

In 2011 and 2012, Alick Morrison, a private investigator for Nygard, swore before a Manitoba justice of the peace that he believed CBCand journalistsTimothy Sawa, Morris Karp and Bob McKeownwere guilty of publishing defamatory libel about Nygard in the documentary.

The prosecutionargued that the documentary alleges Nygard engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour.

In a 2019 preliminary inquiry,Manitoba provincial court judge Larry Allen approved a publication ban on the case, because evidence brought forward byprosecution lawyer Jay Prober was "so salacious and so prejudicial that it could influence any potential jurors."

"I think this is the kind of information that could, potentially, be so concerning to the public that the chances of a fair trial in the future might be affected," Allen said at the time.

Nygard is the focus of a class-action lawsuitinvolving 57 women accusing him of sexual assault or rape, dating back to 1977.

The class-action is still before the courts.