Young baritone alleges he was drugged, violently raped and left bleeding by two famous gay opera stars
According to recent reports, a young baritone professional has made claims that he was drugged and violently raped in 2010 by two of classical music’s leading stars, David Daniels and his husband Scott Walters. Daniels, who is widely considered to be the most famous countertenor in the world, got married to Walters at a ceremony in 2014 led by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Daily Mail reports that Samuel Schultz has alleged that the famous gay couple drugged him after a closing night party in Texas until he blacked out, and the next day, he woke up in a single bed bleeding from the rectum. However, the couple have denied these rape allegations.
Schultz, who was at the time a 23-year-old university graduate, told the New York Daily News that he filed a police complaint in July this year after he was emboldened to speak out by the Me Too movement against sexual abuse. As per reports, he told the police officials that the couple invited him back to their apartment after a party.
The party was held to mark the end of Houston Grand Opera's run of Xerxes. Schultz said that Walters told him to keep the news a secret so that others wouldn't get too jealous. In his complaint, Schultz also wrote that although he rarely drinks, he somehow accepted one on this occasion, and after a few sips blacked out. He then described that the next day, he woke up "in a bed alone, completely naked."
"I was sore and I didn't know why," he wrote. "I made my way to the bathroom to figure out why I hurt. I was bleeding from my rectum. I became numb. I was paralyzed with fear." He further revealed that after a while, Daniels and Walters returned to the apartment after getting a bite to eat and asked if he "had a good time."
"I remember David saying, 'Don't worry about the BB thing, I'm totally negative,' wrote Schultz. "BB, in this case, meant bareback, otherwise known as raping me without a condom." Although he did contact a health center to make an appointment after the encounter, he was too afraid to actually admit that he urgently needed to see a doctor and that took three weeks. By the time he made the appointment, all physical evidence of the alleged rape was gone.
Schultz, who is a former Senate page, has performed with several leading US opera companies and appeared on the Grammy-winning recording of Wozzeck. He even wrote a blog post about being raped in July, but never got around to identifying his true molesters in the post.
"'I hate that this is my story, but now I have the strength to own my story and to take back the power it has had over me and to use the power of its truth, its sacredness, to bring an end to rape," he wrote. "I have been terrified to talk about this publicly because, as many know, people in positions of power (or perceived positions of power) have not been held accountable in the past."
"There was a legitimate danger of destroying my career by reporting someone else’s assault against me." But unfortunately, both Daniels and Walters commented on the allegations, saying it was all a farce. "Other than I deny these allegations, I have nothing to say," Daniels told the New York Daily. "They're completely false."
"I have no comment other than to deny the allegations," Walters said. "They are false." A spokesman for the Houston Police Department said the investigation is active and no arrests had been made. Houston Grand Opera said they were "deeply concerned" by the news, adding: "We will cooperate with any law enforcement inquiries and launch our own investigation once we know the full range of the allegations."