Spanish tenor Placido Domingo has given up appearing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after being accused of sexual harassment by several women, the opera and opera singer announced on Tuesday.
"After thinking, I think my performance in this Macbeth production would distract from the hard work of my colleagues, on stage and behind the scenes," he said. "So I asked to withdraw and I thank the leaders of the Met for having acceded to my request."
The 78-year-old singer, first seen on the New York scene more than half a century ago, was expected from Wednesday at the Met in a new production of Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi.
On Tuesday, he again refuted the charges against him in a statement to AFP and said he was "worried about the climate in which people are sentenced without a fair trial".
Twenty women claim to have been sexually harassed by Placido Domingo
In a survey published in mid-August by the Associated Press, nine women, including one with an uncovered face, claimed to have been sexually harassed by Placido Domingo, beginning in the late 1980s. These women spoke of inappropriate gestures and insistent calls, one of whom said that he had sex with him for fear of jeopardizing his career. The Associated Press released a second investigation on Sept. 7 claiming that another 11 women, also claiming to be victims, had come forward since the first revelations, one of which was named.
The Los Angeles Opera, which Placido Domingo has been managing director since 2003, hired a lawyer to investigate allegations relayed by AP and suspended the tenor as a precautionary measure. The Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera had canceled its performances, scheduled this season, from the known charges.
The findings of the investigation have not yet been made public. The Metropolitan Opera initially indicated that it would determine itself after the publication of the results of this investigation.