Following multiple sexual harassment claims made against him, iconic opera singer Plácido Domingo has stepped down from his longtime position as general director at the Los Angeles Opera.
Domingo said working at the L.A. Opera would no longer be feasible for either him or the legendary company in wake of the allegations, according to an official statement shared by the Associated Press.
Back in August, several women came forward claiming the 78-year-old had sexually harassed them at different opera companies across the U.S. over the course of multiple decades.
Domingo has denied all of these allegations.
“Recent accusations that have been made against me in the press have created an atmosphere in which my ability to serve this company that I so love has been compromised,” the statement announcing his resignation read.
Domingo co-founded the L.A. Opera in 1986. By starring in most of its shows, he helped to raise its international profile. As of Wednesday, Domingo has withdrawn from all scheduled performances at the venue.
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“It is in the best interest of the L.A. Opera for me to resign as general director and withdraw from my future scheduled performances at this time,” he said.
Domingo had been scheduled to headline six performances of Roberto Devereux next spring.
“I hold L.A. Opera very dear to my heart and count my work to create and build it as among my most important legacies,” the opera star added.
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The news of Domingo’s resignation comes only a week after the star officially parted ways with the Metropolitan Opera, ending a professional relationship that had spanned five decades.
Domingo was set to perform three nights as the lead in the Met’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth before pulling out. The shows would have been his first U.S. performances since the allegations initially surfaced.
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Following the initial claims, a number of additional women have come forward with stories accusing Domingo of sexual abuse.
Angela Turner Wilson was one of those women. Now 48, the singer claimed that at the age of 28, she was groped by Domingo in the privacy of a makeup room at the Met.
Wilson claimed Domingo stood behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and then reached down into her robe and grabbed her bare breast beneath the strap of her bra.
“It hurt,” she told the Associated Press. “It was not gentle. He groped me hard.”
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He noted that an independent investigation the L.A. Opera had launched into Domingo’s alleged misconduct would “continue until its resolution.”
The email continued: “This has been a painful and challenging period for all of us, but it is also engendering difficult, and productive, conversations that I believe will ultimately prove critical in strengthening and improving the company.
“L.A. Opera knows we must take further steps to guarantee we are doing everything we can to foster a professional and collaborative environment.”
— With files from the Associated Press
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