Opera star Placido Domingo has been under fire for the past few months due to sexual harassment allegations. Amid various cancellations, the Spanish tenor announced his withdrawal from a performance this summer at London’s Royal Opera House.
The London performances were slated to take place July. However, the Royal Opera House released a statement over the weekend noting that it had mutually agreed with Domingo to cancel his role in the Giuseppe Verdi classic. The statement said that it was “sympathetic” about his reasons for withdrawing and it had not received any claims of misconduct against the singer during his time at the venue, calling the 79-year-old an “outstanding singer and artist and we are hugely grateful for his support and commitment over many decades.” His replacement will be announced at a later date.
This is Domingo’s latest cancellation. Last year, news broke that several women reported the opera legend for sexual assault. Eight singers and a dancer reached out to the Associated Press to share their stories, which stated that Domingo reportedly pressured them into engaging in sexual relationships with him by dangling jobs, which sometimes led to him punishing women professionally when they refused his advances. The allegations took place over three decades.
The Philadelphia Orchestra withdrew Domingo’s performance in September, followed by the San Francisco Opera cancelling his gig in October. Then, this year, his performance at Spain’s National Institute of Performing Arts and Music was cut following an internal investigation by the American Guild of Musical Artists. The union released their results, which found that Domingo “engaged in inappropriate activity, ranging from flirtation to sexual advances, in and outside the workplace.”
He has since released a public apology, noting that he has “taken time over the last several months to reflect on the allegations that various colleagues of mine have made against me” and “I am committed to affecting positive change in the opera industry so that no one else has to have that same experience.”
At this time, he’s still slated to appear in Europe for shows at Madrid’s Teatro Real and Hamburg’s State Opera. Organizers of the Salzburg Festival in Austria said they were still unsure if he will perform. The Los Angeles Opera, which Domingo helped found before stepping down, is still conducting its own investigation.
