LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – The Los Angeles Opera has announced that it will open a “thorough and independent investigation” into the allegations of sexual harassment against opera star Placido Domingo, according to the company’s general director.
The investigation into Domingo’s conduct follows a report by The Associated Press last week detailing multiple accusations of sexual harassment against the 78-year-old opera star.
In a brief statement issued Tuesday (Aug. 20), the opera company said it has hired Debra Wong Yang from the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to lead the investigation.
Yang is a former U.S. attorney and Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who is chair of her firm’s Crisis Management Practice Group, according to the firm’s website. She has been involved in several high-profile cases and was hired by USC in 2017 to investigate the conduct of a former medical school dean. She was also part of the internal investigation team that participated in clearing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal.
Domingo, who served as an artistic consultant to the Los Angeles Opera from 1984 to 2000, artistic director from 2000 to 2003 and as general director from 2003 up to the present, has called the allegations against him “deeply troubling, and as presented, inaccurate.” His current contract runs through the 2021-22 season.
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