Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Placido Domingo resigns from opera union, donates $500,000
SAN FRANCISCO » Superstar Plácido Domingo has resigned from the U.S. union that represents opera singers and will contribute $500,000 to sexual harassment eradication programs and a fund that helps opera employees in crisis, the union said Friday.
The development came weeks after investigations by the American Guild of Musical Artists and Los Angeles Opera found sexual harassment allegations against the famed tenor, now 79, to be credible.
The investigations were launched after the publication of Associated Press stories last year in which multiple women accused Domingo of harassment and abusing his power while he held management positions at LA
Opera and Washington National Opera.
AGMA announced last month that its four-month investigation found Domingo had “engaged in inappropriate activity, ranging from flirtation to sexual advances, in and outside of the workplace.” Details of the allegations were not released, but people familiar with the investigation who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity said investigators found 27 people were sexually harassed or had witnessed inappropriate behavior by Domingo in the 1990s and 2000s.
LA Opera said its investigators had received 10 accusations that Domingo engaged in “inappropriate conduct” with women between 1986 and 2019, but “found no evidence Domingo had ever engaged in a quid pro quo or retaliated against any woman by not hiring her at LA Opera.”
Domingo helped found the LA Opera in the 1980s and led the company as general director from 2003 until last October, when he stepped down after the allegations surfaced.
Numerous women who spoke to the AP 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.
In announcing Domingo’s resignation, AGMA also said the union had withdrawn disciplinary charges filed against singer as a result of its investigation. Disciplinary action could have ranged from fines to expulsion.
Union officials contacted by the AP said they had no additional comment, and Domingo’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The opera world has effectively been shut by the coronavirus pandemic, which has halted travel and led companies across the globe to close theaters indefinitely, leaving much of the industry unemployed.
DEAR ABBY » My two grandchildren, 12 and 16, used to spend a lot of time with my husband and me, staying overnight, going on trips, etc. As they have gotten older, I recognize that they will naturally want to spend less time with us old folks.
My problem is, when I send them texts to invite them for lunch or out somewhere for the day, they don’t respond or just respond with an IDK (I don’t know). My question: Should I ask again to get an answer before the scheduled lunch or trip, or should I just forget it and assume they don’t want to be involved with us?
— Sad memaw in Florida
DEAR SAD » You have asked an intelligent question, but you are asking the wrong person. The people you should be asking are your grandchildren, and when you do, it should be face-to-face.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www. DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.