Amy Hamm: ‘I don’t want to be me,’ Galloway testifies to his ruined writing career

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“I just can’t do it anymore. I wish I could. I loved doing it; it was the greatest part of my life — it was the only thing that made me me,” he told the court.

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Moments later, he was in tears, and placed his head down on the witness box, faced turned from the gallery as if to hide. Justice Sharma then suggested a break. Galloway got up from the witness stand and walked into the corner behind the judge’s bench, leaned his head against the wall and silently cried for a brief period. He then approached his wife in the gallery and the two left the courtroom for several minutes.

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Galloway also testified about his prior literary and financial success as a Canadian novelist. The court reviewed his earnings before and after his career was destroyed by the unsubstantiated rape allegations. Galloway explained that he made upwards of $1.5 million from his novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, but that his royalties “cratered” in the aftermath of A.B.’s allegations. He has not written since and, after stints in landscaping, pool maintenance and online ad writing, now earns commission as a sub-contractor selling boats.

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Galloway told the court that he was negotiating a publishing contract for a three-novel series around the time that A.B.’s allegations went public. He explained that he, for a time, believed that the result of Boyd’s independent investigation may exonerate him in the public’s eye and allow him to “more or less go back to normal.” However, the book deal fell apart after UBC terminated his employment. He testified that, even if the publisher hadn’t cancelled his contract, he still would have been unable to write or go on book tours.

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“I couldn’t have done it. I could barely leave the house, let alone go on a book tour,” he said.

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Galloway spoke of having a dour outlook on his future ability to earn a living.

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“I had some sense of financial stability … life was fun. … Now, life is really small,” he said, as his face twisted. “Whatever it holds, I’m not particularly excited by it.”

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Galloway told the court that he expects to “scrape together a living” until retirement age and that he will probably end up as “that old guy bagging groceries.”

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“I don’t particularly like the person I am going to be now,” he said. “I don’t want to be me.”

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Galloway also described how he has been on some combination of anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications since A.B.’s allegations went public in 2015. He testified that he had only once, before 2015, had a panic attack, but that they became a regular occurrence afterwards. He also told the court that he had never seen a therapist or psychiatrist before this time in his life. Finally, he described that he no longer enjoys socializing or having a large friend group. “I don’t want to connect with people,” he said.

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Burnett also took Galloway through several published articles and tweets that were written about him, as well as a public art exhibit that A.B. created about a “rape narrative” which, Galloway testified, clearly identified him as a rapist. Galloway noted that, to this day, the public can still go online and purchase a book with the gallery artwork, signed by A.B.

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They also discussed the viral hashtag, #UBCaccountable, which referred to a November 2016 letter calling for due process for Galloway. The letter was signed by many well-known writers, including Margaret Atwood. However, as Galloway testified, many of the signatories faced online abuse and, he said, even lost friendships or jobs. Galloway told the court he “felt incredibly guilty” about the abuse faced by those who signed the letter.