HANNOVER, Germany (CelebrityAccess) — The German ballet director has been suspended after he was alleged to have smeared dog feces in the face of a critic over a bad review.
According to the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, ballet director Marco Goecke approached local music journalist Wiebke Hüster during an intermission during the premiere of the ballet “Faith – Love – Hope” at the Hannover State Opera House on Saturday and asked what she was doing there.
He then threatened to ban her from the ballet and accused her of prompting supporters of the opera company to cancel season tickets before pulling out a bag of animal feces and smearing her face with it, the newspaper reported.
German news agency dpa reported that following the alleged incident, Huester filed a criminal complaint against Goecke and the Hanover State Opera suspended Goecke and banned him from the property until further notice.
In a statement posted to their website, the opera company said: “Ms. Hüster’s personal integrity was violated in an unspeakable way. We are appalled by what has happened and very much regret that the escalation has occurred. Immediately after the incident, we contacted the journalist and apologized to her personally.”
