Metropolitan Opera suspends conductor James Levine over sexual abuse claims
Written by News on 04/12/2017
The Metropolitan Opera has suspended conductor James Levine after the three men accused him sexually abusing them as teenagers.
In a statement released on Monday, the prestigious New York opera said it was launching an investigation into allegations made against the revered conductor and music director.
"Mr. Levine will not be involved in any Met activities, including conducting scheduled performances at the Met this season," the Met said.
It also added it was appointing a law firm lead by a former US attorney to look into the claims, which allegedly took place between the 1960s and the 1980s.
Three men are accusing Mr Levine of sexually abusing them when they were teenagers.
Mr Levine has not yet publicly responded to the claims.
Met officials said in an earlier statement that Mr Levine has denied the charges.
The first accusation was published in the New York Post over the weekend, following two other accounts by different men in The New York Times.
According to the Times, one of the alleged victims said he was sexually abused by Levine when he was 16 years old.
He reported the allegations to the police in 2016 and Met officials said they learned of the police report last year.
Another one of the alleged victims told the Times that Mr Levine performed a sexual act on him when he was 17 – and then "coaxed him to reciprocate".
Levine served as music director of the Met from 1976 to 2016, before resigning following health issues.
He remained at the institution in the position of music director emeritus.
(c) Sky News 2017: Metropolitan Opera suspends conductor James Levine over sexual abuse claims
