Keith Urban Reveals Why ‘Violence Ensued’ at the Opera

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman made the news after a confrontation took place with another patron when they attended the opera in Australia in January, and in a new interview, the country superstar explains why another opera-goer got so upset that he “whacked” Kidman with his program, causing a major scene.

The couple made headlines with the incident, which Urban says started innocently enough when they attended a performance of The Merry Widow at the Sydney Opera House. They stood to applaud the performance, which drew the ire of another opera fan, as Today reports.

“We didn’t know you’re not supposed to stand in the opera,” Urban tells the Kyle and Jackie O Show on Australia’s KIIS FM radio station. “We’re sitting down, we’re with Nic’s mom and we’re clapping. It was a bloody great performance, it was so good, and I’m looking around, and we’re cheering and cheering, everybody’s cheering, and I look around and I see a few people standing, and a few more, and I went, ‘Oh, bloody hell, I’m getting up.'”

That turned out to be a breach of opera protocol that drew a swift rebuke: ”And I stood up, and then this guy behind me just, like, whacked not me, Nic — just, like, really hit her with a program,” Urban recalls.

That sparked an angry response from the country star, who got into a verbal altercation with the man. Urban’s security team ended up removing Urban, Kidman and her mother from the venue, as the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Kidman looked so visibly upset that someone even ended up calling the police, but Urban laughs the incident off in retrospect.

“Violence at the opera ensued,” he says. “It was a bit of a pickle that I was in because you know, you’re a husband, you want to defend your wife, but I’m like, what the hell? It took a lot of restraint.”

The singer tried to deal with the other patron fairly, rather than getting crazy, he adds. ”I think I just looked at him I said, ‘It’s a standing ovation,’ like I didn’t know I’m not allowed to,” Urban says.

“At the same time, I get it. I get that there’s this thing going on where there’s a traditional thing that says you don’t do that,” he adds. “I respect that.”