Several women have come forward claiming that Domingo of inappropriate behavior and of sometimes damaging women's careers if they rejected him.
The glittering production was a high point of the Washington Opera's 1999-2000 season: Jules Massenet'sabout a legendary Spanish conqueror, starring a tenor legendary in his own right — Placido Domingo, then the company's artistic director.
Wilson, now 48 and a college voice teacher in the Dallas area, was one of 11 women to come forward after an Aug. 13 AP story in whichthe long-married, Spanish-born superstar of sexual harassment or inappropriate, sexually charged behavior and of sometimes damaging their careers if they rejected him. Wilson said she was spurred to come forward after the 78-year-old Domingo's reaction to the AP's initial story, in which he said he believed his actions "were always welcomed and consensual" and added that "the rules and standards by which we are — and should be — measured against today are very different than they were in the past.""What woman would ever want him to grab their breast? And it hurt," she said.
Several people who have worked in the costume department of the LA Opera, where Domingo has served in various capacities since the 1980s, said his backstage behavior was common knowledge and that management had been aware of it for years. One employee said her colleagues tried to steer clear of sending women into fittings with Domingo as recently as the 2016-2017 season.
One established soprano said she feared not only for herself but for her husband, who also works in opera. The employee said wardrobe staff had a joke about spraying female singers "with tenor spray, like bug spray, to keep the tenors off you." "I saw him positioning himself and maneuvering around rehearsal rooms and in the hallway to get close to her, and she was clearly avoiding him," Gardner said.
Wilson told the AP she was aware of Domingo's reputation by her third season at Washington Opera, but wanted to believe his interest was professional when he began to single her out in the fall of 1999. She said he would sit by her during rehearsal breaks for "Le Cid" and talk to her, telling her "I adore you, Angela." But it soon became clear his interest was not entirely in her singing, she said.
Not long after performances started Oct. 30, she said he came to her dressing room and entered without knocking, saying he wanted to wish her a good show. Then, she said, he added: "I need a kiss. It's a demanding role. I need a kiss for strength.""I remember thinking 'I have to get to the door,'" she said. "I started to open the door and he slammed the door with his foot and his hand and kept his hand on the door and he said, 'I need that kiss.
She said that after he grabbed her breast, she cried out in pain and asked the makeup person, "Did you see that?" Reached by the AP, the makeup artist said he did not recall the incident and did not want to comment further on the record. Though she won the company's prestigious Artist of the Year award that season, in 2000, she said the Washington Opera never again hired her, which she attributes to her interactions with Domingo.
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