Famed opera singer Placido Domingo withdrawing from all future Met performances

NEW YORK: Placido Domingo, the legendary opera singer facing myriad sexual harassment accusations, is withdrawing from all future performances at New York´s Metropolitan Opera, both he and the institution announced Tuesday.

The 11th-hour decision comes just one night before the 78-year-old Spaniard, dubbed the “king of opera,” was scheduled to perform in the Met´s sold-out first production of “Macbeth.”

“Placido Domingo has agreed to withdraw from all future performances at the Met, effective immediately,” the opera said in a statement obtained by AFP, saying that the bankable star agreed “that he needed to step down.”

Domingo — who has been a conductor and director of some of the world´s most prestigious opera houses, and debuted at the Met at age 27 — said in a separate statement that he had in fact “asked to withdraw.”

“I strongly dispute recent allegations made about me, and I am concerned about a climate in which people are condemned without due process,” the singer currently accused of harassment by 20 women said.

But “upon reflection, I believe that my appearance in this production of Macbeth would distract from the hard work of my colleagues both on stage and behind the scenes,” he said.

“As a result, I have asked to withdraw and I thank the leadership of the Met for graciously granting my request.”

The Los Angeles Opera hired outside counsel to investigate allegations against the superstar — who has served as general director at that institution since 2003 — a probe that is still ongoing.

The Met previously had said it would wait for those results, and Domingo´s split with the Manhattan house comes after reports of internal strife over Domingo´s continued association there