Names and faces
■ Opera singer Placido Domingo denied ever abusing his power during his management tenure at two U.S. opera houses in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, as he seeks to clear his name after two investigations found credible accusations he had engaged in “inappropriate conduct” with multiple women over a period of decades. Domingo deflected direct questions about whether he ever sexually harassed women. The allegations have crippled his career in the United States, as well as his native Spain. “I never promised a part to a singer, or never take a part from a singer,” he said. “I have spent my whole life helping, and you know, encouraging and driving people.” He added that responsibilities within opera companies are divided, meaning he never had sole sway over casting decisions. Multiple performers told the AP that Domingo harassed them and abused his power while he held management positions at Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera. Numerous women said Domingo had dangled career opportunities as he pursued sexual relationships with them and then withdrew the offers or stopped hiring them when they rejected his advances. Investigations by LA Opera and the American Guild of Musical Artists found the sexual harassment allegations to be credible. LA Opera did not find he had abused his power, but American Guild of Musical Artists found a clear pattern of such abuse, according to people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the findings. Domingo said that he hopes he can one day return to singing in Spain but sees his return to stages in the U.S. as less likely.
■ Former Hollywood film mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is asking a bankruptcy judge in Delaware to allow him to pursue arbitration in New York over what he claims is his wrongful termination from the company he co-founded. An attorney for Weinstein submitted a court filing last week asking the judge who is presiding over The Weinstein Co. bankruptcy to lift the automatic stay that halts outside legal proceedings involving Chapter 11 debtors so he can pursue the arbitration case he filed in 2017. “Newly discovered information and facts, gleaned during the course of investigation and discovery in collateral matters, have yielded evidence that corroborates the wrongful termination claim that is subject of the arbitration,” Weinstein attorney Julia Klein wrote. The Weinstein Co. sought bankruptcy protection in March 2018 amid a sexual misconduct scandal that brought down Weinstein. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison earlier this year after being convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault.