Singer Says He Was Raped by Opera Power Couple

Samuel Schultz, an opera baritone, sent shockwaves through the world of opera when he came forward with a claim of having been raped by two of the art's most respected practitioners, the New York Daily News reported that Schultz says he was assaulted in 2010 by esteemed countertenor David Daniels and his then-boyfriend, conductor Scott Walters. The couple has since been married, with none other than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg officiating at their wedding, the Daily News article said.

Schultz alleges that he met Daniels and Scott in Houston and, after accepting an invitation to accompany them to their hotel room and imbibing a small amount of a drink they offered him, he blacked out. The next thing he knew, Schultz says, he was waking up the next morning, naked and in a bed that was not his own.

"I was sore and I didn't know why," Schultz was quoted by the Daily News as saying. "I was bleeding from my rectum. I became numb. I was paralyzed with fear. What had happened? How could I escape? How would I get out? Where were my clothes?"

According to Schultz, he came to realize he was alone. When the couple returned, he alleges, "I remember David saying, 'Don't worry about the BB thing, I'm totally negative.' BB, in this case, meant bareback, otherwise known as raping me without a condom."

Though a subsequent doctor's visit three weeks later didn't take place until "all evidence of the alleged rape was gone," the Daily News reported, Schultz did confide in a friend and also went to a therapist in order to cope with his experience. Both the friend and the therapist spoke about Schultz's anguish following the alleged assault.

The New York Times picked up on the story and reported on the Daily News coverage, filling in some details about Daniels' illustrious career as a countertenor and crediting him with helping spark renewed interest in the work of eighteenth-century composer George Frideric Handel.

Schultz's allegations follow misconduct claims leveled at other stars of the music world, including conductor James Levine, who was fired by the Metropolitan Opera in March following claims of sexual abuse.