Placido Domingo Quits LA Opera Under Cloud Of Harassment Scandal

LOS ANGELES, CA — Placido Domingo, the world's most famous tenor and director of the Los Angeles Opera, resigned Wednesday under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations.

After resisting calls to step down for weeks, Domingo announced his resignation in the "best interests of L.A. Opera." However, he vowed to continuing working to clear his name. Domingo's downfall marks the most high profile "Me Too" scandal to rock the opera world. As many as 20 women have come forward in recent weeks, accusing Domingo of groping them or pursuing them while threatening their careers in the arts. Domingo has denied the allegations of misconduct while watching his reputation collapse, forcing his dismissal or resignation at opera houses from New York to Los Angeles. Domingo had served as general director of the Los Angeles Opera since 2003.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Domingo said the 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."

His spectacular downfall began with a series of stories by the Associated Press , outlining the open secret of Domingo's alleged abuses within the opera world.

Domingo's spokeswoman has called the allegations in the AP's stories "riddled with inconsistencies" and "in many ways, simply incorrect," but has offered no specifics.

“The ongoing campaign by the AP to denigrate Placido Domingo is not only inaccurate but unethical. These new claims are riddled with inconsistencies and, as with the first story, in many ways, simply incorrect,” spokeswoman Nancy Seltzer told the Associated Press. “Due to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment on specifics, but we strongly dispute the misleading picture that the AP is attempting to paint of Mr. Domingo.”

In AP's initial Aug. 13 story , numerous women accused the long- married, Spanish-born superstar of sexual harassment or inappropriate, sexually charged behavior and of sometimes damaging their careers if they rejected him.

In a follow-up story, singer Angela Turner Wilson told the AP that Domingo reached into her robe and forcefully grabbed her breast in a makeup room during a 1999 production at the Washington Opera, as the company was then called.

She said she was motivated to come forward with her story after Domingo publicly defended himself, arguing it was unfair to judge him today for past acts governed by old standards of conduct. He further claimed that all his sexual encounters were consensual.

“What woman would ever want him to grab their breast? And it hurt,” Wilson told the Associated Press. “Then I had to go on stage and act like I was in love with him.”

Several sources told the Associated Press Domingo's conduct was egregious during his tenure with the Los Angeles Opera.

Melinda McLain, a former production coordinator at LA Opera told the AP she tried to avoid having Domingo in rehearsal rooms alone with young singers, and tried to give him male dressers only.

“We created these elaborate schemes for keeping him away from particular singers,” McLain told AP. “I never would have sent any woman of any sort into his dressing room.”

She also invited Domingo’s wife, Marta, to attend company parties because the famed tenor behaved in front of his wife.

Last month the union representing opera workers launched an independent investigation of the sexual abuse allegations against Domingo, alleging the opera companies can't be trusted to conduct a thorough investigation.

The Los Angeles Opera has hired outside counsel to conduct an investigation into the allegations of sexual battery and harassment.

City News Service contributed to this report.