Controversial Georgian soprano is dropped from Otello after ‘homophobic’ statements.

Opera Australia today parted company with the controversial Georgian soprano at the centre of a worldwide furore over incendiary homophobic comments that appeared on her Facebook page last year. Tamar Iveri will no longer appear in the Sydney production of Otello next month.

In a statement, Opera Australia said: “Opera Australia confirms soprano Ms Tamar Iveri will not be performing in Otello. Opera Australia has agreed with Tamar Iveri, to immediately release her from her contract with the company. Ms Iveri and her husband have both made public statements in the last 48 hours with regards to comments attributed to Ms Iveri. She has unreservedly apologised for those comments and views. Opera Australia believes the views as stated to be unconscionable.”

Although there has been no specific statement regarding her contracted and advertised return for Tosca in Melbourne later in the year, a spokesperson for Opera Australia said that the company was “following the same due process we worked through on Otello“.

Pressure had been mounting on the national opera company to revoke Iveri’s contract since Limelight broke the story on Friday. In the letter from May 2013, LGBT people...