Canadian True Crime - The Trial of Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard [1]

Episode Date: November 1, 2022

A five-part series — From Canadian idol to convicted sex offender. As frontman for the pop-rock band Hedley, Jacob Hoggard was known for pushing boundaries—both on and off the stage.By 2022 he would also be known as one of Canada's most notorious sex offenders. How did his behaviour go unchecked for so long?This series explores how the rise and downfall of Jacob Hoggard in the era of #metoo, and how myths around consent, rape and groupie culture continue to dominate the social discourse... and our criminal justice system.* Additional content warning: Graphic details of violent sexual assault and allegations involving a minor.Canadian True Crime donates monthly to help those facing injustice.This month we have donated to Good Night Out Vancouver & Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre.Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available on Amazon Music (included with Prime), Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast.Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production, funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening. Hi everyone, and if you're new here, welcome to Canadian True Crime. This is part one of a weekly series about a very high-profile case involving a promise. Canadian band, and we're covering this case quite soon after the trial has ended, which isn't something we typically do. So for any new listeners who aren't familiar with this podcast, it's an immersive, deep dive where we take you through each case from beginning to end, with a look at the way the media covered the crime, the impact it had on the community, and any relevant historical,

social and cultural factors that might come into play. To put these episodes together, we rely on facts and information already on the public record, like court documents, news archives, inquiry reports, journal articles, studies and statistics and more, and we make every effort to present this information in a fair and balanced way. You can find a link to the full list of info sources and resources in the show notes, or visit canadian truecrime.ca. In this particular series, there's also an element of journalism.

We have done some digging into an 11th, incident from the old embassy hotel in London, Ontario that's been the subject of rumors for years. And you'll hear an update on this later in the series. Canadian true crime also prioritises giving back to causes that help those who face injustice. And this month we've donated to Good Night Out Vancouver and the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, which we'll tell you more about at the end of the episode. Before we begin, an additional content warning. This series includes graphic details of violent sexual assault and allegations involving a minor that will be difficult to listen to. Please take care when listening. If you or someone you know

is experiencing sexual violence or abuse, you're not alone and there is help available. Please see the show notes for more information. And with that, it's on with the show. At the end of 2017, the Canadian pop rock band Headley was on top of the world. just released their seventh album and announced a national tour of more than 30 concerts to promote it. Over the 12 years they'd been together, Headley had won several music industry and music video awards in Canada and had been nominated for dozens more. The band had released 13 hit singles. They'd gone platinum, topped the charts, sold thousands of concert tickets and made many, many headlines. They had also won legions of fans, the vast majority of them teenage girls and women.

Everyone knew that while Headley the band was made up of four members, the one who steered the ship, the one responsible for the majority of their success, was the energetic frontman, Jacob Hoggard. From the second he burst onto the screen to audition for Canadian Idol in 2004, all eyes were on Jacob. As Courtney Sheaward write for Chattelaine, his lyrics made fans feel understood, and Jacob himself became the ideal vessel for their budding sexuality.

Quote, a tank-topped, tattooed, PG-13-rated bad boy. He's a little bit crude, but also sensitive and funny. Basically the ideal boyfriend for the angsty, misunderstood, misfit, who is every teenage girl ever. Jacob Hoggard had charisma that was blinding, even if it did come with a hint of danger. Charles Johnston, one of the writers on those early seasons of Idol, would write for the National Post that he recognised Jacob Hogart as an alien of talent, lightning in a bottle, smart, savvy, a good head on his shoulders type, but quote, I had no idea how wrong I was.

Got some fight left inside me. 34-year-old Vancouver rocker Jacob Hoggard was arrested last month and charged with two counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual interference. The charges allegedly relate to three separate incidents involving a woman and a girl under 16 in the Toronto area dating back to 2016. Jacob Hogart was only 19 years old when he first entered the public consciousness. The year was 2004, and at the time, Canadian Idol was the highest rated TV show in Canadian history,

with millions tuning in every week to see which contestants had the talent and star power to be plucked from the general public by the music industry machine and elevated to star status. Jacob was an apprentice carpenter from Abbotsford, British Columbia, who'd been playing piano and guitar from a young age. According to his Idol biography, he could often be heard singing on the construction sites where he worked. There are several stories about how he came to audition on Idol, ranging from his mother, forging his name on an application, to his friends daring him, to his high school sweetheart dragging him there on the day.

Whatever the story, Jacob Hogarth rocked up for his Canadian Idol audition, looking like a typical 2004 edgy teenager. His boyish face framed by dark, spiky hair with a ring through his lower lip. He was wearing a plaid shirt with the sleeves cut off showing naked arms that had yet to be tattooed with baggy torn up jeans. For his first audition,

Jacob sang Forever in Blue Jeans by Neil Diamond, a performance that screenwriter Charles Johnston would describe as hitting notes that made arm hairs stand on end with a voice like a revving V8. One of the judges giggled with a big best treats. If you'd pardon me, I'd like to see that we'd do okay. Forever in blue jeans, baby. One of the judges giggled with delight.

He was in. Not all judges were convinced at first, but there was something about Jacob Hoggard that they just couldn't ignore. Jacob was described as a goofball, someone who was clearly confident and charismatic and would hammer it up for the cameras whenever they were around.

His entertaining personality made for great TV. But this was Canadian Idol, so there was much fuss made about whether his talents stretched to singing and performing. All it took was just one performance and the audience was mesmerized. Jake Gold, one of the judges, was prompted to say, I never really liked you until this moment.

I didn't think you could sing, but I was wrong. Jacob Hogarth's voice is not subtle. It's powerful and unique. He sings hard, putting his all into angsty vocals that brim over with raw emotion. And when he made it to the top 10 of Canadian Idol, he proved to be a talented stage performer, not afraid to take risks as he pushed each new performance to the next level. A notable performance from the time was his rendition of the song Space Oddity by David Bowie,

where he emerged from underneath a dark cloak wearing a bright blue, sparkly, skin-tight jumpsuit, complete with blue eye shadow, frosted lips and outlandish facial expressions and dance moves. protein pills and put your helmet on. This is major top to black control. Stepping through the door. It was a risky move for a mainstream pop music platform like Idol. And while most described it as brilliant, some raised their eyebrows. Jacob insisted that, quote,

Canadian Idol is not about silly pop music because that's not what I do. He said he loves punk music and was inspired musically by Canadian musician Matthew Good. When it came to performing, he looked to British musician Robbie Williams. Jacob Hogarth's obvious talents transformed him into an audience favourite, particularly with teenage girls. Screenwriter Charles Johnston described him as having one of those looks where, depending on what angle you viewed him, either resembled a quote, Goblin or a matinee idol, like a lot of iconic singers, piercing eyes, vibrant hair,

a distinctive lip ring that gave him this instant edge. His teenage fans loved the whole package. His masculine rock star presentation juxtaposed with the raw vulnerability he displayed during his emotional performances, coupled with the fact that he was cheeky, a bit of a prankster, and did things that no one expected. To the fans, it was an irresistible combination. After one Canadian Idol performance, he gave the host Ben Mulroney a wet willy in the ear.

He did hilarious impressions of the judges. When he chose to wear costumes with skin-tight pants, he would make a show of dramatically bending over and pretending to pick something up off the floor as the audience howled with laughter. He wasn't just a singer or a musician. He was a performance artist. And Jacob Hoggard seemed acutely aware of the impact he was having

by ramping up his on-stage behaviour and it worked. When he made it to the final three of Canadian Idol, many thought he was a surefire to win. But he wasn't done surprising people and issued a strange live request to the audience. He asked them to vote him off the show, explaining that he only auditioned on a dare. As it turned out, he had already achieved his goal.

Jacob Hoggard didn't want a solo artist recording contract because he was already the singer and frontman for a garage band called Headley, named after the British Columbia Mining Town. Jacob stated that the only reason he agreed to audition for Idol was to use any publicity he got to further his business. band. It was an audacious but sincere comment and Jacob got exactly what he asked for. As judges and audience members wiped away tears, Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney announced that Jacob Hogarth was bigger than Idol. Jacob himself urged his fans to quote,

Don't stop supporting me because the end of the show is the beginning of me. His publicity stunt worked and the media. He scrambled to speculate over his next move. When asked directly what his future plans were, he mentioned that he would like his band to one day perform for the United Nations. But when asked why, he wasn't able to give a reason other than, quote, I want to perform for the UN and light something on fire. They're big and important.

He was described as saying this with typical irreverence, or not taking things as seriously as they should be taken. It would be a common theme. Soon, Jacob reported that the band had interest from multiple record companies and he was just waiting to see which one came up with the best offer. But he had done it. Jacob Hogarth had built up such a profile, such buzz around his name, that he was able to leverage his own success into success for his band, Hidley.

Except it technically wasn't the same band. While the media had first reported that the band members decided to go their own way, it soon came out that Jacob had actually fired all the original members of the band and replaced them with professional musicians. He would explain that he had to make some decisions that were unpleasant but necessary, and he acknowledged that the move might seem calculated and contrived, but defended his decision, saying it had nothing to do with management or the label, quote, it was me saying, if I want to take the next step, I'm going to find some people to play with that are at my level and can compete just like I can.

So with Jacob Hogart remaining as frontman, the reformed Headley signed with Universal Music Canada, and the following year 2005, their self-titled debut album was released. Headley was described as being a cross between Sum 41 and Blink 182, and their first album was so successful it was certified double platinum in Canada, with the first single on my own, reaching number one on the Canadian singles chart. That same year, Headley was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award, and they toured with several lesser-known Canadian bands. Soon, Headley had developed a reputation for being an incredibly social and approachable band. Because the venues they played in were smaller and more intimate,

they would hang out after the shows and joke around with fans as though they were long-time friends. They were able to forge an intense and lasting connection with their fans, who would go on to compare notes afterwards about who interacted with who. Headley was announced as the opening act for the Canadian tour of the popular Montreal rock band Simple Plan. It would be their first stadium tour and Jacob Hogart explained it as, quote, I guess you could say you're helping us break our stage hymen. That same year 2005, 21-year-old Jacob Hoggard married his high school sweetheart. While he shone in the spotlight, she appeared.

to be the opposite, a grounding force that anchored him. Whether her preference or his, she stayed out of the spotlight and not much is known about her other than the fact that she had just married Canada's newest rising star in the world of music. In 2006, Headley was the top headline on their own Canadian tour and also appeared as the opening act for the Canadian leg of Bon Jovi's tour, which included playing at the venue then known as the Air Canada Centre, where the Toronto Maple Leafs play their games. That same year, the band signed a recording contract for the United States with Capitol Records, who promptly put them on the roster as opening act for the band Yellow Card's United States Tour. While Jacob Hogarth's decision, both on and after

Canadian Idol surprised many, no one could deny that things were panning out, maybe even better than he planned. And as Jacob's star continued to rise, so too did his confidence. The band started getting recognition for their energetic music videos and were invited to perform at the 2006 Much Music Video Awards as it was known then. Jacob appeared with his bandmates in handcuffs and accompanied by two women dressed as sexy police officers, he announced, quote, much music thought it would be safer if we were handcuffed, but win or lose will still be drunk and having a great fucking time. The media had started describing him as charmingly obnoxious, which he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he would confirm that he always loved attention.

In an interview with Tom Zillik of the Surrey leader, Jacob, Jacob recalled getting into trouble at L.A. Matheson Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia, describing himself as, quote, the kid who was just sitting outside the classroom all the time just for being an idiot and being loud. Every single report card said I talk too much. In another interview with Peak News magazine, Jacob said he had actually been expelled from the school in grade 12 after lighting his desk on fire. straying from the norm was nothing new.

He said, quote, It's all good, I get away with a lot of stuff. At one point, Jacob was asked if the band had some kind of master plan to make sure they stayed in the headlines. He explained that he avoids blowback by making just enough trouble to get people talking, but not too much that it wasn't okay. Quote, I'm just good at making people go, oh God. And then they go, oh God, to their friends, until everybody is going, oh God. Jacob often performed with no shirt on and became known for taking his pants off and performing only in his underwear.

He seized every opportunity to show off his growing collection of tattoos, starting with a full sleeve on his arm that seemed to spring out of nowhere, along with a large chest piece that started with angel wings. Soon he started mentioning a new tattoo he had of the band's name, and when asked where it was, he turned around and pulled down his pants to show H-E-D on his left bum cheek and L-E-Y on his right. He took great pleasure in mooning his fans so they could see the tattoo as well, and he didn't care if it was when they were performing on stage or being interviewed on the red carpet.

In 2007, Headley performed with Nickelback and also released their second album, Famous Last Words, which went on to be certified platinum with several high-charting singles. The band was nominated for their first three Juno Awards. That's Canada's version of the Grammys. They lost out to acts including Billy Talent and Nellie Fittado, but the band's producer, Brian Howes, won a Juno for producer, of the year, partially for his work with Headley. When it came to the band's big break into the US market,

Headley either failed to make a splash or not enough effort was put into promoting them or both. Capital records dropped them from the label after just a year. But in the smaller pond of Canada, Headley was becoming a big fish, a staple in the Canadian music scene, and not just because of the same. success of their music, they had become known for their energetic live performances which were always

highly anticipated. Jacob's unpredictable antics may have pushed against the line of broadcast standards, but they sure did make for excellent TV and excellent ratings, as long as he didn't push it too hard. Headley appeared again at the Much Music Video Awards where they took home the award for best pop video for their single Gunnan. But this time they were described as pushing the boundaries of family television, carrying around a nude male blow-up doll on stage and backstage, at one point implying that it was the new frontman for the band, a replacement for Jacob Hoggard. This all happened less than three years after Jacob's appearance on Canadian Idol. A lot had happened very quickly but he was up for it, continuing to charm existing fans while drawing in new ones

thanks to his youthful and extremely energetic performances. It hadn't gone unnoticed that with the increase in Headley's success also came an increase in the large collection of fans made up of teenage girls. In 2007, the Toronto Star published a piece called Headley's Hogarth not bowled over by sleaze balls, with a subhead that read, quote, For every female out there who spent hours trying to avoid the eerie eyes and soiled praise of an overconfident beer-guzzling man, I've got news, women can be just as bad. The author, Sabrina Jalise, interviewed Jacob Hogard for the article and wrote that she

herself had observed the attention he attracted from the opposite gender. Quote, they were drunk, they were relinquire, they were reluctant. relentless and they reeked of desperation with a hint of Smyrnoff. She remarked to Jacob that she was surprised and asked him if it happened often. He replied that the attention was a bit of a novelty but not that rare. Quote, I don't find it creepy though, just desperate. In most cases, when a girl's pushing for the hookup that bad, there's something wrong. It doesn't work for me.

I love the thrill of the chase. And there's no chasing that below. he admitted that the compliments were flattering though and a guy's ego needs to be massaged quote like a delicate fur and when it came to his celebrity in high profile he said quote my odds of picking up girls are exponentially better it's funny how when people know what you do they think they know who you are i'm not some typical good-looking guy either if i worked an office job there's no way I'd be able to pick up like that. When asked whether he dates fans, he said, never, why would I want to do that? The journalist asked him what a girl has to do to be successful with him, and Jacob replied,

quote, I love eye contact, stuff like that, the times when you have to grow the balls to talk to a girl. He added that he liked them to be approachable, not like, quote, the ones who fundamentally lack social skills, They stand there rocking ice grills and think it's hot. With all of these personal questions, Jacob Hoggard neglected to mention that he had been married for two years, and if the journalist was aware of it, she didn't bring it up. But there were clues that perhaps there was trouble in paradise. The latest Headley album included a pop rock love ballad called For the Nights I Can't Remember, which is widely believed to be an open apology for.

Jacob Hoggard to his wife for being away so much while he was touring. The single became the ninth most played song on Canadian radio in 2008, according to Nielsen. And it also heavily contributed to Headley becoming the second most played musical act on radio that year. And if only counting Cancon or Canadian content, Headley was the most played musical act on Canadian radio in 2008. That same year, the band was nominated for another Juno Award, and they were also asked to perform during the show, along with Feist, Finger 11, Michael Bublay, Avril Levine and other artists.

When Jacob Hoggard was asked what he had planned for that performance, he said that the band was going to try and keep it PG-rated, and joked, quote, we're going to reveal thundering intellect instead. He added that if they didn't win the Juno they'd been nominated for, quote, we're going to kill ourselves. He was referencing the fact that they kept being nominated and not winning. Headley lost out to Blue Rodeo in the group of the year category, but it didn't matter.

Their upward trajectory continued and that same year they won four categories in the much music video awards. By 2009, 25-year-old Jacob Hoggard and his wife had separated after four years of marriage. The word on the street was that she'd discovered he'd been cheating on her, but it wasn't a high-profile relationship so there was no big announcement of the split. Jacob mentioned the separation briefly as part of promoting the band's third album, The Show Must Go. In an interview with London Free Press, he said, quote, I had gotten to a point where I began to project a lot more of who I wasn't than who I was.

He referenced getting married so young, saying it wasn't the best decision because a lot of things changed from A to B. He essentially said it was difficult for a 21-year-old guy to play the role of responsible adult and committed spouse, while being in a band that was touring. Quote, it just was ill-fated, I guess, and it became really difficult to live two different lives, and that can really wear you down. Jacob said he found it difficult to strike a balance,

and when his marriage fell apart and he finished touring that year, he realized that he needed to stop performing for a while. Quote, I really got to the point where it was like, all right, well, the show must go. He explained that that's why the album was given that name. It was an ode to the fact that your whole life is not a show and you can't always be performing. Quote, anybody who ever thought they could carry fame, fortune and family in one hand is crazy. But the show didn't really go, or should I say, it didn't go away.

As long as there were fans and media with a ready supply of attention to give, Jacob Hogarth and Headley was ready and willing to earn it. Jacob may have wanted to slow down, but it didn't really translate into action. Headley's star continued to shine, and in 2010 they entertained a global TV audience with a performance at the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The band also became actively involved in several charitable initiatives, which obviously netted them a lot of positive PR. Jacob was a guest vocalist on a song by Young Artists for Haiti,

a movement raising funds after the Haiti earthquake. And two years after that, he did the same thing with artists against bullying, with a remake of Cindy Lauper's True Colors, which was released for Bullying Awareness Week. They would go on to raise money for cancer research, donate musical instruments to local schools and even travel to developing countries to help build schools there. In 2011, Headley released their fourth album, Storms, complete with a 31 city tour to promote it. The album was described as a move away from punk and closer to pop, more commercial. It won the

Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year, and the music video spawned from the album, one of the album, one awards of their own. Jacob Hogan had also been working on his visual image, and around this time it was evident that there'd been a bit of a glow-up. Gone was the baby-faced teenager from the garage band, who auditioned for Idol with the sleeveless shirt, baggy jeans and skate shoes, spiky hair and a lip-ring. Now he was sporting a streamlined professional rock star look, His dark hair closely cropped at the back and sides and puffy at the top, similar to the rockabilly style. He had also been working out. His face had slimmed down and his signature lip ring was gone.

He started wearing more tank tops that showed off both his tattooed arms and also that large angel wings piece on his upper chest that had now been enhanced with a cross above it and a large beating red heart underneath. If you saw Jacob Hogart from a distance, you might have mistaken him for Adam Levine from the band Maroon 5, but with slightly puffier hair. In 2013, Jacob Hogart appeared naked in the band's music video for their single Anything. He described the decision to be naked as an easy choice. Quote, in the spirit of the concept of the song, we were like, hang on, fuck this, let's just do what whatever the fuck we want. When asked if getting naked was a selfish act, he replied,

Absolutely, quote, I was naked for myself, and it just so happens to be caught on film. I'm a fan of naked people. What's wrong with a little bit of flesh? He also started posting what can only be referred to as thirst trap selfies to his social media accounts, often appearing shirtless, the waistband of his skinny jeans pulled down as low as possible with a provocative look on his face. In one, the caption reads, or I could go back to bed, I guess. By this point, it had been more than two years since Jacob and his wife had separated, and while there were rumors that he'd been dating someone else, in public he was making a choice to appear single. Jacob Hogarth was seeing all of his dreams come true,

from appearing on Idol to being nominated for a Juno Award, to winning a Juno Award, to performing at the Juno's. And then in 2015, he was invited to host the entire awards show, following in the footsteps of past hosts like Drake, William Shatner and Michael Boubley. Headley was also up for three Juno Awards that year, and the band would also be performing alongside Arkell's, Deadmouse, Alanus Morissette, The Weekend, and more. In the lead-up to the Juno's, 30-year-old Jacob Hogard was required to do many media appearances

as part of his role as host, which of course he relished. When asked to describe what he would be like as the host of the Junos, he said he'd just be himself. Quote, I'm the guy that says something awkward at a funeral. During the show, Jacob had the audience eating from the palm of his hand. Fans commented about how engaging he was with the audience during commercial breaks, often chatting with audience members, charming them with cheeky and flirtatious comments and taking their phones for selfies before they even had a chance to ask.

Reporters assembled for a press conference straight after the show and Jacob practically bounced onto the stage fresh from his hosting gig, apologizing for keeping them waiting. The woman moderating the press conference started by making a flirty joke about how she lost money because Jacob Hogarth didn't get naked, and he responded in kind. Here you go. One more, yeah.

You know what, I lost 10 bucks because you didn't get naked. There's 10 bucks in my pocket, Lynn. You want it? Stop calling you living. I'm sorry. All right. Always charisma with a hint of danger. And before long, Jacob had charmed the majority of the assembled media.

All right, so you're going to be living in an igloo for a few weeks, but you can only bring three items with you. Yeah. What three items would you bring? Does a six-part count as one? Yes, that's one item. Smokes? Hey? Yeah.

Is the trailer part boys one thing also? Okay, yeah, we're there. Yes, that's an entity. Nailed that one. All right. One of the charitable organizations that Headley was involved with was Wee Charity, an organization that began with the Canadian movement formerly called Free the Children, that aimed to raise awareness of child labor in developing countries.

The members of Headley were among the, many celebrity ambassadors for the charity who helped raise money and traveled to Kenya, India and Ecuador to help build schools there. And back home in Canada, the band was also heavily involved in the organization's annual stadium event, We Day, a hotly anticipated celebration for high school students and educators, featuring celebrities, musicians, motivational speakers and more. It should be noted that Wee Charity would be the subject of an extensive investigation resulting from a huge ethical scandal and in 2021 they announced they were winding up their Canadian operations. But five years before that, in 2016, Wee Day was a huge deal and a massive production,

with many people volunteering their time to help the day run smoothly. One of those volunteers was an Ottawa woman will call Emma. At the time, she was a 24-year-old Algonquin College student who was registered to help out at the We Day Ottawa event on November 9, 2016. Emma was also on the dating app Tinder, swiping through when a profile caught her eye. His name was Blaine. He was 32 years old, and he described himself as a musician on the Blessed Coast. The photo showed a man wearing a black hoodie,

the hoodie part covering his hair. He's looking directly at the camera with piercing green eyes and a mouth that's curled up at the side in a cheeky smile. Unmistakable. It was Jacob Hoggard. Emma wouldn't have described herself as a fan of Headley's music or of Jacob Hoggard, but she couldn't help it feel flattered to have matched.

up with a real Canadian rock star. When she asked if it was really him, he asked for her Snapchat account, sending her a photo there as proof. The reason Snapchat is mostly used for these kinds of messages, is that the messages, photos and videos disappear after they're opened, so it leaves no trail of conversation unless the user takes individual screenshots.

Emma and Jacob chatted via Snapchat throughout the day, as Jacob fulfilled his commitments as Wee Day Super Ambassador. Whenever he took to the stage, he was greeted by deafening screams from the mostly teenage audience. Headley was scheduled to perform to close out the day, and Jacob messaged Emma asking her to meet him in the green room beforehand. She declined, saying that she was too shy to meet with him that day. After the event was over, Jacob continued on to his next destination and Emma remained in Ottawa where she lived. But she and Jacob continued to message on Snapchat,

the messages getting flirtier and flirtier. Jacob told Emma that he was going to be in Toronto in another week or two and offered to pay for her to catch a train from Ottawa to Toronto so they could meet up and watch TV together. It was a bit of a joke. They both knew the meeting was for a hookup. But as Emma would later testify, the day turned out to be something different altogether. The morning of November 22, 2016, 24-year-old Emma arrived at Toronto's Thompson Hotel and 32-year-old Jacob Hogard came down to meet her, waving from the elevator. He told her firstly that they weren't going to his usual room, which she would say made her feel a bit nervous.

But she was about to hook up with a rock star, the lead singer of Headley, the darling of the Canadian music industry, who wouldn't be nervous? She set aside her feelings and joined Jacob in the elevator. But when they got to the hotel room, Emma was surprised when Jacob suddenly pushed her up against the wall, and tried to kiss her. She would describe it as uncomfortable and awkward, and she pushed him off with

her body. He then went and laid on the bed, sipping at a drink that he called a lean, which is a mixture of prescription cough syrup and soda. To Emma, this man in front of her was very different from the person she thought she'd been getting to know in the Snapchat messages. This guy was not behaving like the Jacob Hoggard she was expecting to meet, and he seemed high. Meanwhile, Emma's standoffishness seemed to annoy Jacob. He told her she was all talky-talky and he expected more, and she could just go home if that's what she wanted. But Emma didn't really have a lot of options. She'd caught a four-and-a-half-hour train from Ottawa to Toronto just for this meetup. She had no other place to go and no way to get home until her train left later that day.

She figured she was already at the hotel, so she'd just stay and see how things went. She said that over the next hour, Jacob seemed to settle down and they made small talk until there was a knock at the door. It was a hotel employee telling Jacob that his regular room was ready. He asked Emma to wait for five minutes before she joined him there, and when she entered the room, she saw a king-sized bed with a large mirror stretching up over the headboard. Jacob asked her for her phone and then put it on the bedside table, explaining that women were always taking his photo to post online. There was also a large TV playing a movie, and Jacob seemed to want to watch the movie so Emma joined him on the bed. She recalled that they'd only been watching for about 10 minutes when he

suddenly flipped her over onto her stomach and pinned her down to the bed. He removed her clothes and raped her anally, something that she'd never done before. He was also not wearing a condom. Emma started crying, but he kept going. She repeatedly cried out to him to stop, that he was hurting her, but it made no difference. At one point, he patted her head, called her a good girl and ordered her to be quiet and it would all be over soon. She said he was grunting loudly,

making pig noises, and that he called her a dirty little pig and a slut. Jacob put both hands around Emma's neck and squeezed it tight to restrict her oxygen. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror above the bed's headboard, noting that her face was turning red. Quote, I remember looking in the mirror and thinking he might kill me

and no one knows where I am. Emma lived to tell the tale, but Jacob Hogard wasn't done yet. She would describe him as acting like a psychopath, quote, his eyes were absolutely terrifying. Over the next three or four hours, she said he raped her, anally, vaginally and orally, at one point taking a break from the assault toward a room service.

He also took several showers. During one of them, Emma used the bathroom and realized she was bleeding vaginally and anally. When she told Jacob, not only did he not respond, but he continued with the attack. The entire time Emma was terrified and distraught, but she blamed herself for what was happening. Jacob Hogarth had paid to bring her to Toronto for a hookup, and deep down she knew he was crossing a line, but she still felt a sense of obligation to see it through. In Emma's eyes, the fault was hers for accepting his offer and coming to Toronto in the first place. He slapped her face multiple times while he was raping her and told her to hit him back. She didn't as she was afraid of him. He forced her mouth open and spat in it. At another point he grabbed her legs and

dragged her off the bed until she slammed on the floor and then he pulled her into the bathroom. He then sat on her chest and asked her several times if he could urinate on her. When she said no, repeatedly, he asked her to urinate on him. She refused and this time he backed off. This was the only time that he ever asked her for consent for anything. She said that the attack lasted for around five hours, until Jacob gave her her cell phone back and announced that he had a meeting to go to. He called her a cab and that was it. Emma would say that she was still crying. Emma would say that she was still crying as she stepped into the car. She was still in shock. No one knew she was in Toronto, and she had to wait for her train back to Ottawa. The taxi driver dropped her off at a Tim Hortons

across from Union Station. As she waited, she called a close friend and told them a bit about what had happened, saying that Jacob Hoggard had treated her like a dog. Shocked, her friend asked her why she didn't fight back more, and Emma said her body just froze up, because while she knew that Jacob had crossed a line, she still blamed herself for it. It's not like he dragged her to Toronto and held her hostage in the room. She felt stupid that she went there and effectively let someone do that to her. As Emma was on the train back to Ottawa, trying to make sense of what had happened, her phone beeped. It was a message from Jacob Hogard, saying he had a wonderful time and he couldn't wait to see her again.

Emma was confused and disgusted by the message. He knew what he did and he certainly knew how she reacted to it, so why would he say something like that? She put her phone back down without replying. The next day, after the initial day, after the initial time, shock had worn off, she told a friend and a roommate what had happened, and they told her to message Jacob back. So she typed in, You raped me, and said that she wanted an apology. He messaged her back stating that their day together was consensual in a message that she noticed seemed different from his usual, casual, flirty tone. He then called her, and she stated again that he raped her

and she wanted an apology. Instead of giving her one, he denied that he raped her and told her never to contact him again. She said he then blocked her number. Emma decided that no one other than her friends would believe her, so she resolved never to tell anyone else, including the police, and just get on with her life.

She would heal up and then she would pretend like nothing had happened. But she couldn't explain. ignore her injuries. On day six, the pain in her vagina wasn't going away and it was starting to worry her, so she decided to go to the medical clinic near her college. She told the doctor that she'd been sexually assaulted by someone who hadn't worn a condom. She was examined, tested for sexually transmitted diseases and the doctor encouraged her to report what happened to the police, but she declined. A few weeks after that, Emma was still experiencing pain, but made the decision to delete everything related to Jacob Hogan off her phone

and move on with her life once and for all. It was now the end of 2016, and the newest formation of Headley had been together for almost 12 years. They'd released six albums, each with subtle changes to their sound as the band evolved, but their high-energy baseline remained. There were always cheekily catchy songs that get stuck in your head, a good mix of rock and pop songs with danceable beats that encouraged letting loose and having fun,

counted by piano ballads that tune in to raw emotion. The band was not afraid to take risks. Their live shows were described as pure fun and the fans lapped it up. Many of them said that Headley's. his music had changed their life, and some said it even saved their life. But Headley was not without detractors. For all their success in Canada, they had not made a big enough splash in the US market. After Capital Records dropped them, they signed on with Island

records in 2010, then back to Capitol in 2014, but it didn't take. Music critic for the Toronto star, Ben Rayner, once said he was mystified by Headley's appeal because, quote, they are basically your textbook third-rate Cancon band. Cancon is short for Canadian content, a requirement that Canadian broadcasters include a percentage of content created by persons from Canada. 40% of content heard on radio must be created by Canadians. So calling someone a third-rate Cancon band is basically saying they wouldn't have made it as far as they did had broadcasters not been obligated to play that percentage of content created in Canada.

In March of 2017, there was a sudden out-of-the-blue announcement posted to the band's Facebook page saying the drummer Chris Crippin was leaving to start a new chapter outside of Headley. According to the Post, his departure was due to a difference in artistic paths, and the statement ended with the band wishing Chris the very best in his new adventures. It seemed to be a very amicable breakup. Headley soon announced they had a new drummer, and later that year they released their seventh album, Cageless, complete with a headlining tour of Canada to promote it.

But there had been trouble brewing behind the scenes. The Me Too movement doesn't need much of an introduction. It's a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, founded on MySpace in 2006 by Tarana Burke. As a sexual assault survivor herself, Tarana's goal was to empower people who've been sexually assaulted through empathy, solidarity and strength. in numbers. It would take a decade for the Me Too movement to become mainstream, but things really

took off when the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein surfaced in October of 2017. He denied the allegations and claimed that all sex acts were consensual, which prompted an online campaign by actress Alyssa Milano encouraging anyone who'd been sexually harassed or assaulted to post Me Too as their social media status. Quote, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Survivors, especially vulnerable young women, are often afraid to come forward and speak about their experiences because of fear of blowback.

But Me Too provided a sort of safety net that ensured they didn't feel alone and that they had public support. Under the umbrella of Me Too, Other celebrity survivors started to come forward, leading to a media reckoning with widespread coverage. Just a few months after that, Headley kicked off their Cageless tour in February of 2018, playing the Abbotsford Centre in British Columbia, a fitting location because that's where Jacob Hogarth was living when he auditioned on Idol. The Cageless Tour would travel to 32 Canadian cities over a few Canadian city, about six weeks, with support acts Sean Hook and Neon Dreams. As the tour got off to a start,

there was much fanfare on social media, with the band and fans alike posting pictures from their VIP meet and greet sessions and chuckling over Jacob Hogarth's entertaining antics. And just four days into the tour, it was announced that Headley had been nominated for Juno Awards in four categories. Everything was coming up headly. 2018 was shaping to be an amazing year for the band, perhaps their best yet. In reality, they had about one week left

before their house of cards started to fall in spectacular fashion. In the days after the Juno nominations were announced, a post from an anonymous user on Twitter started going viral. She said she first saw people on social media talking about the cageless tour and how fun and engaging Jacob Hogard was. She decided to share her own very different story online. The anonymous user claimed that when she was 18, she met Jacob at a bar and he grabbed her butt. She said at the time she felt flattered, but soon she and her friends started to hear rumors that she wasn't the only one.

Jacob was known to be a flirt, but this was more than that. Three years later, after reflecting on what happened and the power dynamic at play, she realized the way he interacted with his fans was messed up and sleazy. She wanted to see who else had similar stories, so she encouraged others to share their own stories about Jacob Hogarth and Headley using the hashtag OutHeadley 2018, and she helped amplify their messages by retweeting their stories. Before long, social media lit up with that hashtag and the Me Too hashtag,

with stories that were similar and even worse. There were claims that Jacob Hoggard prayed on girls as young as 14 years old, that he offered to buy underage girls' drinks and touched them inappropriately without consent. Other stories involved girls who were minors, of consenting age, which in Canada is 16 years old. One alleged that when she was 16, Jacob kissed her, grabbed her hand and put it on the crotch of a fellow bandmate. Another said she and her friends accepted an invitation to have drinks with the band one night, but instead they were groped. Of course, there were many supporters

of these girls and women who came forward, including fans of Headley, who believed them, and thought they were brave for sharing their stories. Many had heard those rumours or had even had their own weird encounters with the band, which at the time they put down to Jacob's charismatic and edgy personality. But soon, the full force of Headley standem came for each of the women and girls, calling themselves the Headley Army,

and a counter-hash-tag started to appear, I Stand with Headley. They proclaimed that it was, was a trial by Twitter and insisted Jacob was innocent until proven guilty in a proper court of law. Of course, believing girls and women who come forward to speak of their experiences doesn't mean that the person they're accusing is not entitled to the presumption of innocence. The reason it can be confusing is simply because of the old-school stereotypes about women, that we're lying opportunists who shouldn't be believed without a lot of scrutiny.

And when the accusation involves a respected or high-profile man, it's even worse. In a piece for the Toronto Star, journalist Sri Prudkar wrote, To hear people outraged by lack of due process and the recent wave of sex assault allegations against high-profile men, you would think women are merely duplicitous creatures seeking any chance to trip a man on his upward path to success in a burbling fit of malevolence. Women used to be accused of using their vaginas to climb their way to the top. Sluts. Now they're being accused of using them to bring down the guys at the top.

Biches. End quote. Historically, when women have reported sexual abuse by a man, they come to regret it. They're accused of being gold diggers, of looking for attention or fame or money. They're told they must have made the first move and got rejected. And that prompted them to lash out by lying. They're told it's a case of he said she said, and unless their story can be corroborated by an independent witness,

it'll stay that way. But the problem is, sexual assaults by their very nature often happen in places where there are no witnesses. And when it comes to being suspicious of false accusations, absolutely they happen. And of course it's wrong and harmful to falsely accuse someone of sexual assault. But according to a 2017 investigation by Robin Doolittle for the Globe and Mail, false accusations only make up a small percentage of all sexual assault reports, between 2 and 8%.

And more than this, the investigation conducted a review of data from nearly 900 police jurisdictions and found that one in five sexual assault claims that are reported to police are deemed by them to be baseless and false to start with. The police are the gatekeepers and often the decision is made on nothing but the investigating officer's opinion. They might decide the survivor wasn't showing appropriate emotion for the situation, even though we know there is no normal behaviour for a person. who's experienced trauma. Or because the officer has a poor understanding of the laws around consent,

they turn the microscope to examine the behaviour and actions of the survivor. The Globe and Mail did a 20-month investigation, a national review of all sexual assault cases reported and found that Canadian police are labelling sexual assault cases as unfounded at nearly double the rate of physical assault cases. This obviously distorts the country's crime statistics. And often when sexual assault allegations arise, there's one side saying believe women and another side insisting that the accused person is innocent until proven guilty.

And people think they have to pick a side because surely these two statements cannot exist at the same time. When it came to Headley, one superfan tweeted out that maybe the penitial. against the victims had been stuck for a very long time, but now it's swung back too far. Quote, has it gone too far where everyone is convicted the moment there's an accusation? But as Sri Pradka wrote for the Toronto Star, when it comes to believing women, all the phrase asks of us is to discard the propensity to not believe women, simply because they are women. It doesn't mean that all critical thought must be suspended,

or that the accused is not entitled to the presumption of innocence. Believe women simply means that women should be given the presumption of innocence too, instead of jumping to the conclusion that they have an ulterior motive for coming forward. In the case of Jacob Hoggard and the girls and women who were coming forward to share their stories, it wasn't long before they were targeted and attacked by the headly army of superfans. In these situations, the impact of the parasocial relationship can't be understated. This is where an audience comes to consider a media personality as a friend, based solely on their public persona, despite having no or limited personal interactions with them.

And this can apply to anyone, whether a celebrity in the entertainment industry or an elected politician. We've all heard the phrase, never meet your show. heroes because it speaks to the fact that the public persona is often very different from the actual personality. And in the case of someone like Jacob Hoggard, who had a confident, charismatic, goofy and approachable persona, fans often feel like they're engaged in a reciprocal relationship with them. And then when negative news breaks, they can't believe that their much-loved idol that they felt they've known for years could possibly be involved in such. things. The Headley Army came for any women who reported anything remotely negative about an

interaction with Jacob Hoggard, telling them to stop dragging a band with literally zero evidence. Those who were sharing their own personal experiences were accused of slandering the band. When one woman said she and her friends were invited for drinks by the band and were groped instead, She was trolled by a middle-aged man who said, quote, You do realize you are a female groupie seeking out a band to party after hours and you are now feigning surprise that things are sexual behind the scenes? You're a groupie, grow up. It's called sex, drugs and rock and roll for Christ's sake.

Another accused her of jumping on the bandwagon that she must enjoy attention. And in regards to Jacob groping her, quote, Being disgusting is not a crime. Others dug into the online histories of the girls and women who shared their stories, pointing to screenshots that were supposedly clues that they were lying. They claimed that most of the stories were completely made up and the profiles that posted them must have been fake. The superfans are one thing,

but for music industry insiders, there were just too many stories to ignore. The band were on their Canadian tour and hadn't released any. official response. But when the girls and women who shared their stories started to share screenshots that showed they'd been blocked by the official Headley Twitter account, there was outrage. It wasn't a good look and the reaction started a domino effect. Juno's organizers say it was a joint decision with Headley after careful consideration of the situation. The management team representing the group has terminated

All business relationships. A statement released today by watchdog management and the Feldman agency cites multiple allegations against Hedley. Both of the opening acts for their Canadian tour withdrew. First, Neon Dreams, who said they could no longer, in good conscience, continue the tour. The drummer Adrian Morris told CBC News that he grew up idolizing Hedley at one point and said the tour had a great vibe until the L.A. allegations surfaced, but it was hard to get on stage for the next show, and it got harder and felt more wrong each time. It was likely that Neon Dreams would take a financial loss from breaking

their contract. The other opening act, Sean Hook, called the allegations disheartening and at first said he'd continue with his contractual obligations, but within 24 hours, he'd announced his withdrawal too. A new band was brought on as a replacement opening band, but after a week, they pulled out as well. Headley's song started being removed from most, if not all, major radio stations. We Charity announced that it had ended its relationship with the band. For many, these developments and the swift action was a clear indication that there was substance behind the allegations that there must have been some kind of insider industry knowledge unknown to the public. But when it came to the Headley standem, they just grew even angrier.

Headley responded to the situation with a Facebook post calling the allegations of sexual misconduct unsubstantiated. They conceded that there was a time in the past when they engaged in a lifestyle that incorporated certain rock and roll cliches, but added there was always a line that they would never cross. The statement goes on to read, quote, we appreciate the bravery of those who come forward with their own stories, and we realize that all of us as individuals and as a society can and must do better when it comes to this issue. However, if we are to have a meaningful, open and honest discussion. We all have to accept and respect that there are at least two sides to every story. The recent allegations against us posted on social media are simply unsubstantiated

and have not been validated. We would hope that people will bear in mind the context in which these unsupported accusations have been made before passing judgment on us as individuals or as a band, end quote. Of course, the statement was followed by comments from fans declaring their undying devotion and support. But others called the statement bullshit. One person tweeted sarcastically, quote, we respect and applaud the Me Too movement, except when we're the ones being accused.

Another person tweeted, quote, In my humble experience, rock and roll cliches include being paid in beer, eating beef jerky for breakfast, sleeping on floors, washing your underwear in a sink. Abuse of power is abuse of power, and until the industry calls it as such, it is an unwelcoming and unsafe place. That was not the end of the developments. In a new statement, Hedley announced they had decided to withdraw their nominations for the Juno Awards.

The statement read that they intend to take responsibility and talk about how they've let some people down and what they intended to do about it. Quote, we want to ensure that everyone understands our collective commitment to change and do better is real. Saying a rock and roll lifestyle was to blame or saying certain things happened because we were younger isn't good enough. We owe it to our families, our crew, our friends and most of all our fans to do and be better. The easy thing to do would be to cancel the tour and hide. We don't intend to do that.

We intend to start making positive changes starting right now. End quote. Hidley made it clear that they were going to be continuing with the rest of their tour. And while some ticket holders started to ask for refunds to upcoming shows... My daughter bought them months and months ago and she's refusing to see them. The superfans were adamant. There was nothing stopping them from attending. Just let I'll always be sent.

by them. I'm not going to, because it's allegations, it's not actually charged yet. But back in Ottawa, one woman had been watching all the online discussion with interest. The women and girls who'd spoken out on social media were giving her courage and the confidence to finally come forward with her own harrowing story. And Emma would not be the only one. That's where we'll leave it for part one. In part two, Emma tells her story to journalist Judy Trin of CBC News and The Floodgates Open. Part two will be available in a week and you'll be able to listen early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon and Supercast.

See the show notes for more information. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to tell a friend or leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Canadian True Crime Donates Monthly to Canadian Charitable Organisations that help victims and survivors of injustice. For this series, we've donated to two organizations. The first is Good Night Out,

a BC-based non-profit dedicated to sexual violence prevention in entertainment industries. They even have a nightlife street team, the first of its kind in North America. Visit Goodnightout Vancouver.com for more info. And the second is the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, which provides programs focused on supporting survivors, raising awareness, empowering the community and more. Visit ORCC.net or see the show notes for more information.

Thanks to Eileen McFarlane from Crime Lapse Podcast for research in this series. Audio editing and production was by We Talk of Dreams, who also composed the theme songs. Production Assistance was by Jesse Hawke with script consulting by Carol Weinberg. The host of True voiced the disclaimer and writing, narration, sound design and additional research was by me. I'll be back soon with another Canadian true crime episode.

See you then.