When the Metropolitan Opera brought the hateful pro-terrorist and anti-Semitic rantings of The Death of Klinghoffer to New York, James Levine was there as Music Director. Now Jimmy's in trouble.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera said Saturday it will open an investigation into allegations that its longtime conductor, James Levine, sexually abused a man three decades ago beginning when the man was a teenager.
Levine’s accuser, now middle-aged, contacted the police department in Lake Forest, Illinois, in October of 2016 to report that he’d had sexual contact with the conductor when he was under age 18.
The Met had known about this for over a year. Peter Gelb should be held accountable for this.
Details of the police report were first reported Saturday on the New York Post. Met officials said they learned of the police report last year.
“This first came to the Met’s attention when the Illinois police investigation was opened in October 2016,” the Met said in a statement. “At the time, Mr. Levine said that the charges were completely false, and we relied upon the further investigation of the police. We need to determine if these charges are true and, if they are, take appropriate action. We’ll now be conducting our own investigation with outside resources.”
Interestingly enough, they didn't first show up in the New York Times. That's another reminder that when it comes to certain cultural allies, the paper is unreliable. But heads should roll at the Met over this.
The accuser, who at the time was hoping for a career in music, told police the conductor had invited him to audition for him in New York and then encouraged him to engage in sexual “experimentation.”
Arafat would no doubt approve.