TORONTO — An Australian opera company said Monday it has released soprano Tamar Iveri from her contract after anti-gay comments on her Facebook page came to light.
Opera Australia said in a statement it “reached agreement with Ms Iveri to immediately release her from her contract.”
Iveri was scheduled to star in a production of Verdi’s Otello in July and August.
The opera company said Iveri’s comments — in which she called gays and lesbians “fecal masses” — are “unconscionable.”
The comments appeared in a letter to Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili posted on Iveri’s Facebook page 18 months ago.
Last Saturday, the singer said her husband was responsible for the comments. She said he is “a very religious man with a tough attitude towards gay people.”
Iveri insisted “this text does not express my own opinion.”
Still, many Opera Australia patrons threatened to cancel their subscriptions in protest and corporate sponsors Qantas and Mazda publicly expressed concerns.
La Monnaie Opera in Brussels also dropped Iveri from its 2015 production of A Masked Ball.
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