Domingo resigns from opera singers union, to give $500K

SAN FRANCISCO — Superstar Placido 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.

Thee development came weeks after investigations by the American Guild of Musical Artists and Los Angeles Opera found sexual harassment allegations against the famed 79-yearold tenor 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 in management positions at LA Opera and Washington National Opera.

AGMA announced 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.

Domingo led the company as general director from 2003 until last October, when he stepped down after the allegations surfaced.

In announcing Domingo’s resignation, AGMA also said the union had withdrawn disciplinary charges filed against him.