Tamar Iveri Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri has been released from her contract with Opera Australia after outcry over a homophobic rant posted from her Facebook account. The company says she will no longer be performing in its upcoming production of Otello. "Opera Australia has agreed with Tamar Iveri, to immediately release her from her contract with the company," the statement says. An open letter to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, which was posted on her Facebook page last year, had been circulated sparking a call for her to be sent packing. “I was quite proud of the fact that Georgian society spat at the parade,” the letter says, referring to a lgbti parade in her home nation. It continues: “vigorous attempts to bring West’s ‘faecal masses’ in the mentality of the people by means of propaganda.” The post has long been removed from her Facebook page, and Iveri is blaming her homophobic husband for writing it. “For my entire career I have been working with gay people and some of them are very dear friends. All of them can confirm that I never lost a word that might associate me with homophobic ideas. I respect every single human being and I am against all kind of discrimination and violence.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 23rd June 2014 - 4:10pm