Met fires Levine; says there was no cover-up of sexual misbehavior
The Metropolitan Opera cut all ties with conductor James Levine late Monday, following the end of a three-month investigation into its former music director following widely reported allegations of sexual misbehavior. That move effectively fires Levine from two posts, as the Met’s music director emeritus and artistic director of its young artist program.
In a terse, carefully worded, five-paragraph statement released late in the day, the Met said the outside investigation “uncovered credible evidence that Mr. Levine had engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct both before and during the period when he worked at the Met.” It added that the investigation–which interviewed more than 70 people–had also uncovered “credible evidence that Mr. Levine engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct towards vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr. Levine had authority.”
Due to these findings, the company concluded “that it would be inappropriate and impossible for Mr. Levine to continue to work at the Met.”
The press release also stated unequivocally that there was no institutional coverup of Levine’s behavior by Met officials or the Met board. “[A]ny claims or rumors that members of the Met’s management or its Board of Directors engaged in a cover-up of information relating to these issues are completely unsubstantiated.”
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