Opera star Domingo ‘pressured women’ for sex over three decades

Opera star Placido Domingo has tried to pressure women into sexual relationships for decades by dangling jobs and then sometimes punishing them professionally when they spurned his advances, numerous accusers have told The Associated Press.

Eight singers and a dancer have said they were sexually harassed by the long-married, Spanish-born singer in encounters that took place over three decades beginning in the late 1980s, at venues that included opera companies where he held top managerial positions.

Regarded as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, Domingo is a prolific conductor and the director of the Los Angeles Opera.

The multiple Grammy winner is an immensely respected figure in his rarefied world, described by colleagues as a man of prodigious charm and energy who works tirelessly to promote his art form. At 78, Domingo still attracts sellout crowds around the world and continues adding to the 150 roles he has sung in 4,000-plus performances, more than any opera singer in history.

But his accusers and others in the industry say there is a troubling side to Domingo – one they say has long been an open secret in the opera world.

One accuser said Domingo stuck his hand down her skirt and three others said he forced wet kisses on their lips – in a dressing room, in a hotel room and at a lunch meeting.

“A business lunch is not strange,” one singer said.

“Somebody trying to hold your hand during a business lunch is strange – or putting their hand on your knee is a little strange.

“He was always touching you in some way and always kissing you.”

In addition to the nine accusers, half a dozen other women said that suggestive overtures by Domingo made them uncomfortable, including one singer who said he repeatedly asked her out on dates after hiring her to sing a series of concerts with him in the 1990s.

The AP also spoke to almost three dozen other singers, dancers, orchestra musicians, members of backstage staff, voice teachers and an administrator who said they witnessed inappropriate sexually tinged behaviour by Domingo and that he pursued younger women with impunity.

Domingo did not respond to detailed questions about specific incidents, but issued a statement saying: “The allegations from these unnamed individuals dating back as many as 30 years are deeply troubling and, as presented, inaccurate.

“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.