Here's what we know so far about the Opera legend Plácido Domingo, who was accused of sexual harassment
Plácido Domingo added role No. 151 to his legacy Saturday night.
‘It is painful to hear that I may have upset anyone or made them feel uncomfortable — no matter how long ago and despite my best intentions.’“Still, it is painful to hear that I may have upset anyone or made them feel uncomfortable — no matter how long ago and despite my best intentions. I believed that all of my interactions and relationships were always welcomed and consensual.
The AP has withheld certain details in cases where it could lead to the identification of the accuser. The dancer called her avoidance technique “the bob and weave, the giggle and get out,” and one soprano labeled it “walking the tightrope.”Domingo’s influence in the opera world is so great that Wulf was the only person among the dozens who talked to the AP who spoke on the record. And many of those who spoke did so reluctantly, fearing retribution but also not wanting to inflict collateral damage on the industry itself.
After that incident, she said, Domingo started calling her at home frequently, although she had not given him her number. He told her she was a talented singer with a promising future and he wanted to help her. Domingo was an artistic consultant at L.A. Opera in the 1980s when his stardom went mainstream. Newsweek magazine dubbed him “the King of the Opera” in a 1982 cover story and he appeared on popular television shows such as “Sesame Street,” in which a character, Plácido Flamingo, was named for him. His collaboration in the “Three Tenors,” with the late Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras, produced the bestselling classical recording of all time.
Singers and administrators would “smile and shrug,” she said. “Everybody would see me running around to avoid him and laugh it off. That’s how everybody dealt with Plácido.” She said she had sex with Domingo on two occasions, at the Biltmore and at his Los Angeles apartment. “I don’t have a smoking gun,” she said, but “for somebody who was calling me and trying to see me every year, every time he was in town, to just never contact me again and never hire me again is pretty convenient.”The L.A. Opera announced in 1998 that Domingo would become its artistic director, after working for years as a consultant for the company.
From the beginning, the singer — who was 27 and just starting her career — said she felt panicked and trapped. He told her he had champagne and asked if he could come pick her up so they could celebrate the performance. In that moment, she said, she had “a feeling of impending doom” that “I wasn’t going to have an opera career if I didn’t give in.” So, she said, she reluctantly agreed.
The singer’s husband confirmed to the AP that she had told him at the time Domingo was persistently calling and that “eventually it was quite clear he was propositioning her.” When she confessed to what had happened with Domingo, the husband said her description of the star’s behavior persuaded him “that the only way to get out of it was to either give in — or give him a hard no and give up all concerns of your career.
Now 49 and retired, she said she is haunted by fears that submitting to Domingo had mitigated any wrongdoing on his part. Then 40, she had been hired to do two solo roles that year, first in a production of “The Magic Flute” and later in “Fedora,” which starred Domingo and the great Italian soprano Mirella Freni. The opportunity to work with such famous singers was a career high point, she said, but the experience quickly became a nightmare.
She said Domingo would often knock on her dressing room door uninvited and that she feared leaving the room if he was in the hallway. Wulf recalled the compassion of a male colleague who offered to stand up for her if she wanted to report him. “They’re not going to fire him — they’ll fire me,” she remembered telling him.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t scared. I thought I could handle it,” she said, noting that he was persistent but not physically aggressive.“The whole premise was ridiculous: Why would Plácido Domingo not have a ride home?” she said. “But what was I going to do?” He told her, “I’ve been trying to get you to work on this aria with me for weeks. I really want to hear you sing this role. Can you come to my apartment and we’ll run through this aria?”“It sounds crazy to say, but it felt like he had invested so much time in this pursuit that he was annoyed with me,” she said. “I felt like I have dragged this out and avoided him for six weeks and he is Plácido and he is my boss and he is offering to work with me on this role.
“I’ve been hard on myself for a while,” the singer said. “Having a coaching session with somebody who offers you coaching is not consenting to sex.”A dancer who worked with the superstar in several cities began recounting her experiences with him by stating, “My story is exceptionally common.” “When you’re working for the most powerful man in the opera, you try to play ball,” she said, adding that she was careful to never insult him and tried to appeal to his ego.
An opera employee who worked closely with Domingo said she found him gentlemanly and respectful, but confirmed that the dancer had complained of being harassed by the superstar for years. She said the dancer told her what happened in Domingo’s hotel room, adding that her impression was that “even though he was persistent, he did take no for an answer.”“There were years when I was a wreck about it and scared that I’d never be hired again,” the dancer said.
“At that point, I was enamored with the whole situation and excited to meet this really famous person with an amazing voice,” she said. “Then I started getting phone calls. One evening at intermission, she said, Domingo knocked on her dressing room door and they chatted about the performance before he moved to kiss her goodbye.
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Opera Legend Plácido Domingo Accused of Sexual HarassmentOpera singer and conductor Plácido Domingo has been accused of sexual harassment by eight singers and one dancer
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AP: Women accuse opera legend Domingo of sexual harassmentFor decades, Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated and powerful men in opera, has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing the women...
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