Opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa reportedly pulled out of co-headline concerts with Aussie rock star John Farnham back in 2005 because she was fearful underwear would be thrown on stage during her performance. Which is pretty understandable, if you ask me.
Kanawa had agreed to appear at the co-headliner event, that would have been called Two Great Voices, and would have been staged in Melbourne and Sydney. But the singer subsequently watched a DVD recording of a Farnham concert and was unsettled by his somewhat excitable audience. She reportedly thought the show looked "absolutely horrendous".
She subsequently pulled out of the shows despite, the event's promoters say, assurances that no underwear would be thrown on stage when the pair appeared together. Quite how they planned to fulfill that assurance I'm not sure - put a big net up in front of the stage perhaps? Either way, those promoters, Leading Edge Events, claim Kanawa was in breach of contract when she pulled out of the concerts, and are suing her and her former manager, Nick Grace, to the tune of AUS$ 2 million. Kanawa in turn is suing Grace with regard the original booking.
The whole affair is being retold as we speak as Leading Edge's case works it way through the New South Wales Supreme Court. It is not yet clear in Kanawa herself will be give evidence during the case.