The German ballet director who caused a stink over the weekend — smearing dog feces onto the face of a critic who had given his show a crappy review — squeezed out an apology yesterday. But the critic calls BS.
"I would like to apologize sincerely to all concerned, first and foremost to Ms. [Wiebke] Huester, for my absolutely unacceptable act," Marco Goecke released in a statement. "In retrospect, I am clearly aware that this was a disgraceful act in the heat of the moment and an overreaction."
But his push for redemption went down the drain as he then went on to pile most of the blame onto the critic.
From HuffPost:
However, he added that it's time for media to "rethink a certain form of destructive and hurtful reporting that damages the whole cultural sector" and criticized Huester for what he said were "often nasty reviews."
Goecke pointed to the "nervous strain" resulting from two premieres in quick succession as a reason for his actions.
"I apologize for the fact that I finally blew my top, but I also ask for a certain understanding at least for the reasons why this happened," he wrote. …
Huester said she was shocked by Goecke's statement on Tuesday.
"What kind of an apology is this supposed to be?" she asked on 3sat television, describing it as an attempted justification of his actions, German news agency dpa reported.
Groecke, who has clearly soiled his name, is under a lot of pressure with an investigation. He has also been blocked from the Hannover state opera house until further notice.
