Seb il divo: Il Divo Tenor’s Ex-Wife Sues Him, Citing Sexual and Physical Abuse

Il Divo Tenor’s Ex-Wife Sues Him, Citing Sexual and Physical Abuse

Music|Il Divo Tenor’s Ex-Wife Sues Him, Citing Sexual and Physical Abuse

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/arts/music/sebastien-izambard-il-divo-abuse.html

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Sébastien Izambard exerted “coercive control” over Renée Izambard and subjected her to years of psychological abuse and torture, she said.

Sébastien Izambard, a singer in Il Divo, was sued by his former wife, Renée, who accused him of subjecting her to “years of dangerous psychological abuse and torture, and intense sexual, physical and emotional abuse.” He is shown here in New Zealand in 2018.Credit…Dave Simpson/WireImage, via Getty Images

May 11, 2021

A tenor in the classical crossover group Il Divo was sued Monday by his ex-wife, who accused him of domestic violence, sexual assault and battery and described his behavior toward her over the years as “a textbook example of coercive control. ”

In the suit, filed in state court in Los Angeles, Renée Izambard said that her ex-husband, the singer Sébastien Izambard, had subjected her to “years of dangerous psychological abuse and torture, and intense sexual, physical and emotional abuse, bringing her to the doorstep of death.”

Ms. Izambard, 43, an Australian native who was a music publicist before she married Mr. Izambard, 48, charged in the lawsuit that over the years he had tracked her movements, withheld medical care, subjected her to sex acts without her consent, and threatened to stop supporting their three school-age children.

“Really, she’s just fighting to be free of abuse,” Devin McRae, a lawyer for Ms. Izambard, said. He said that his client had been motivated to file the suit both to end what she saw as a campaign of terror that continued after she filed for divorce in 2018, and to shed light on how intractable coercive control is.

Il Divo’s management and label have not responded to repeated requests for comment, nor did a lawyer who has represented Mr. Izambard in the past. A booking agent for the group had no comment. The group, which has sold some 30 million records, is due out with another one, celebrating the music of Motown, in July.

In January, California enacted a law that defined coercive control, making it easier for behavior like isolating a partner to be introduced in family court as evidence of domestic violence. Pallavi Dhawan, director of domestic violence policy for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, said her office has been tracking the results. “I have heard that family lawyers are getting more success in getting restraining orders using coercive control, because they have been able to argue that it’s codified,” she said.

Some legal experts believe that the law could open the door to make examples of coercive control admissible in other cases, such as the civil claim that Ms. Izambard is filing, though they warn that proving emotional and psychological abuse remains challenging. Still, said Ms. Dhawan, whose office was involved in drafting the law, “we wanted to start the conversation and name the harm, so that survivors would have the language” to describe their experiences.

The Izambards met in Australia in 2005, when Il Divo, the wildly popular international pop-opera crossover quartet formed by Simon Cowell, was on tour there; by the following year, they were a couple, and Ms. Izambard left her job to move to France with Mr. Izambard, a Paris native. They married in 2008, shortly after the birth of a twin son and daughter, in a pregnancy that was fraught with medical complications.

Mr. Izambard’s controlling behavior began before they were married, according to the suit. On a 2005 vacation to Thailand, he brought her to a brothel and, over her protestations, asked her to watch while he “had a sex act performed on him by two Thai prostitutes,” according to the suit. It was the first of many sexual demands that Mr. Izambard made against Ms. Izambard’s wishes, including pressuring her to have sex in front of other people, urinating on her against her will, and ejaculating on her feet while she slept, the lawsuit said.

Ms. Izambard, who had been Il Divo’s Australian publicist, gave up that career when she became involved with Mr. Izambard, and he at times kept her from working again, refusing to permit her to get a work visa when the couple lived in London from 2010-2013: “Sébastien told Renée her visa would affect his offshore tax scheme,” the suit says. He did not put her name on their bank accounts or property portfolio for many years after they married, the suit says.

He also sought to isolate and control her in other ways, the suit claims: “Sébastien would fly into a jealous rage when Renée called her family or friends in Australia or even if Renée fell asleep or went to bed before Sébastien. When driving in the car together, Sébastien demanded Renée hold his hand at all times.” He watched her on the CCTV system inside their home and tracked her movements outside using the Tesla app, the suit says. He did not permit her to read books in his presence, the suit says.

Ms. Izambard attempted to leave him several times throughout their relationship, the suit says; at first, he promised to change to win her back (he eventually joined a group for sex addicts, according to the suit).

But his behavior continued, and she suffered a “severe emotional breakdown” in 2017, the suit said. Afterward, the suit claims, he denied her medical treatment, kept her in their home and pressured her to make “pornographic video content.”

In an earlier, ongoing case, Ms. Izambard sued her ex-husband and the insurer State Farm for damages related to the 2018 Woolsey fire in California, which destroyed the couple’s Malibu home just days after she filed for divorce. In that suit she charged that Mr. Izambard improperly controlled access to the insurer and its payouts.

The lawsuit filed Monday says that Ms. Izambard and her children “require intensive therapy to deal with the psychological and physical trauma” of Mr. Izambard’s behavior.

Mr. McRae, her attorney, said Ms. Izambard was cleareyed about what her lawsuit might mean for her ex-husband’s career and ultimately for her. “His whole earning capacity might disappear,” Mr. McRae said. But he said that she had filed the suit anyway, out of a belief that such misconduct should be identified, so it can potentially be stopped.

Melena Ryzik is a roving culture reporter and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment. She covered Oscar season for five years, and has also been a national correspondent in San Francisco and the mid-Atlantic states. More about Melena Ryzik

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Ex-Wife Accuses Il Divo Tenor of Abuse. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Sebastien – Il Divo

Il Divo may have won the Artist of the Decade award at the Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall the evening before we meet, but Sebastien Izambard isn¹t the sort of person who lets such things go to his head. The French singer, already a highly successful pop artist in his native country before Il Divo¹s formation in 2003, is absolutely clear about why the quartet are still able to top the charts worldwide, after seven years. “You can receive all the prizes in the world,” he says, “but if you don¹t have an audience to perform to, well, you can keep your award on the mantelpiece, but what does it give you?” All four of them, Sebastien continues, keep their eye on the ball. “Nothing is ever taken for granted. We¹re very lucky with our record label and management. It¹s all about teamwork. We¹ve had our fair share of criticism over the years, so it felt amazing to have that experience last night, to be reminded of what we have achieved. But the biggest achievement is seeing all the fans out there. And they are still there, seven years on.” In common with Urs, David and Carlos, Sebastien¹s creative life before Il Divo was one of extraordinary diversity ¬ and so it remains. He couldn¹t conceive, he says, of resting on his laurels or limiting his horizons. “As an artist, you should never think, ŒI know how to do this, I¹m fine¹. You need to always question yourself. I don¹t mean dwelling on things in a masochistic way. But you have to evolve, and recognise your weaknesses.” In the past 18 months, Sebastien¹s life has been a hive of activity ¬ but then, it always has been. A tough childhood in Paris taught him to value the important things in life ¬ family, friendship, fulfilment. That attitude is reflected in his long-term involvement raising funds for Assistance Medicale Toit de Monde, a charity that gives support to poor children in India and Nepal. Untrained as a musician, Sebastien learnt to play by ear, and is now a talented and respected songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Prior to Il Divo, he released an acclaimed pop album, Libre, and his single Si Tu Savais topped the French charts. Last year, he even had lessons in both singing – you see what he means about not resting on his laurels – ¬and acting. “You go to the Royal Albert Hal,” he says, “and see all these paintings and photographs, spanning the 18th century to singers such as Rihanna today, and you realise that music has evolved so much. And if you don¹t remember the traditions, the roots of music, you lose the richness. And that¹s what we¹re trying to do in Il Divo, to honour that tradition.¹m from the pop side, so I went backwards. The others are classically trained, and I¹m self-taught; I work with my instincts. But you need both, so I had to gather that knowledge. Without knowledge, you can¹t evolve.” Something slightly more dramatic than singing and acting lessons has turned Sebastien¹s world upside down, however: fatherhood. Already the proud father of twins, he now has a new baby boy, too. “Life has changed for me completely,” he laughs, “and it feels amazing. I¹ve always wanted a family, and I¹ve blossomed, I¹ve found the person I want to be with, I have these beautiful children. I have my family, I travel the world, I¹ve been making music, collaborating with Darren Hayes from Savage Garden, and with the lyricist Don Black ¬ and Il Divo have made an amazing new album. So how can I not feel fortunate? I couldn¹t ask for more. ” When it came to making the new record, Sebastien says, all four members of Il Divo “asked ourselves, ŒHow can we improve this?¹. It was a case of trying to think of Il Divo as a new project. It¹s been a big investment for all of us, in terms of time, and passion, and creativity. We¹re the captains of the ship, and it¹s our responsibility to sail it.” The most crucial thing, he continues, has been the time they¹ve allowed themselves to make the album. “It¹s very ease to burn out; the way the industry works, you can spend your whole life either touring or making the next record. We¹re very lucky in that respect with the label; they know that it also has to be about taking time over things, and recharging our batteries.” Recharged, Sebastien is raring to go. “We are passionate artists, and we try to make great music, because that is what we love.”

“Music connected us” Il Divo vocalist Urs Buhler about Sting, Barbra Streisand, heavy metal and Armani suits . Four good fellows – Swiss Urs Buhler, Spaniard Carlos Marin, Frenchman Sebastien Isambar and American David Miller – perform popular arias from operas and pop hits in intricate arrangements.

On the eve of Il Divo’s third visit to Russia, a Lenta.ru correspondent spoke with Urs Buhler, who spoke about the quartet’s craving for hard rock, Armani costumes, and the expectation of success.

Lenta.ru: September concerts in Russia will be the first real tour of Il Divo in our country – six concerts in a row. What do you expect from the Russian audience?

Il Divo : A tour of Russia should not be different from our concerts in any part of the world. Il Divo is quite popular, naturally, we expect a warm and emotional reception from the listeners. Not just emotional, but enthusiastic! Plus, we know very well that classical music is loved in Russia. Part of the concert program consists of classical arias in modern processing – we must be successful. We are coming to Russia for the third time and we know that your audience is very responsive. I would say that this is one of the best audiences we have ever performed in front of.

Is Il Divo a pop group performing a classical repertoire, or are they classical singers masquerading as a pop group?

Il Divo – this pop group, but unusual. We don’t think we’re anything more than we are when we’re playing an unusual repertoire. It wouldn’t occur to us to call ourselves, say, “pop performers for high society listeners.” Although critics often try to call us a boy band for adults and the rich. Well, we are glad, because these “rich” people were enough and they sold out our albums in fantastic quantities!

It is believed that the classical repertoire is difficult for mass perception. How can you explain such a stunning success?

The role of treatments should not be overestimated. We could easily perform a more complex repertoire, make the listener break his head. But complication is uncharacteristic for us. The goal of Il Divo is to capture the widest possible audience. The audience goes to a concert to hear something familiar. My colleagues formulate this as “the desire to hear the obvious.” So, from the classics, we select only the “obvious”. Most of our repertoire is well-known hits, simply performed in a classical manner, partly with new texts in Italian. Italian is a necessary detail of the “obvious”: the audience feels like they are in an opera!

Your latest album, A Musical Affair, consists of numbers from popular Broadway musicals. What determined the choice of musical material?

Our albums up to 2011 were quite colorful and somewhat eclectic collections of classical arrangements. After the release of Greatest Hits in 2012, it became clear: the time had come to record an album united by a different idea. Using compositions from Broadway musicals is a natural step for Il Divo, as long as we want to perform well-known material.

Are you afraid that the Russian listener will be disappointed with the new program? Not all of us are so familiar with Broadway musicals.

No way! I guess our Russian fans are familiar with the A Musical Affair album, and if not, it doesn’t matter. The concert program includes songs from earlier albums, and the best compositions from the last one, and everyone probably knows them – if not performed by Il Divo, then in the original.

They say Il Divo was created through casting?

I agree, it’s rather strange to gather a vocal group of musicians with experience through casting. But, if Simon Cowell had not brought us together, we would hardly ever have met, much less would we have started working together. It wasn’t really Simon that brought us together, it was great music that brought us together. Exactly the kind of music that is worthy of a real professional performance, which gives real pleasure to both the audience in the hall and us on stage.

It is known that the singers in Il Divo are not best friends in real life.

We are professionals first and friends second. In addition, a busy concert schedule requires strict adherence to the regime. We don’t always have time to just discuss something. Our strength is not in friendship, but in professionalism.

How do you see a typical Il Divo fan?

Il Divo has no typical fan! In Japan and South Korea, our audience is more than 2/3 teenagers, which is quite unusual. In Latin America and Spain, the audience is somewhat older. And in other countries of the world where we had a chance to perform, people of different ages come. I am especially pleased that in Russia we saw exactly the same picture, even to the point that there were entire families in the hall.

Il Divo are known for their collaborations with various artists. With whom did you find cooperation most interesting?

I don’t divide artists into the best and the worst – all masters of the highest level. One of the highlights of my career was on tour with Barbra Streisand in 2006. We were a beginner band, Barbra herself invited us to take part in the tour. She is an artist of a caliber that is almost non-existent now. There was no arrogance in her attitude towards Il Divo, it is easy to work with her on stage and communicate with her. Professional, in a word!

Since we are talking about various experiments, what would be the most daring form of cooperation in the future history of your team?

If we are talking about individual artists, it would be interesting to work with Sting. But since the question is about bold forms of collaboration… I think it’s essential for Il Divo to work with a real rock band in the future, and in the style of hard rock or heavy metal. I think our voices combined with electric guitars and drums would sound quite interesting. Probably, my rocker past is affecting (Urs Buhler in the late 80s – early 90’s, under the name Ferris Buhler, was the vocalist of The Conspiracy and recorded one album with them – approx. “Lenty.ru” ), I would really like Il Divo to be on stage with Europe or, even better, with Manowar. But I don’t know how our producers will react to such proposals.

What do you think is the difference between Il Divo and other vocal groups?

The stereotype of a vocal group is another boy band in which unknown young men, after a short vocal and choreographic training, enter the stage of stadiums. So I said, how Il Divo differs from similar bands: we are far from 18 years old, everyone has a huge stage experience and musical education. And, on top of that, we take the stage in Armani suits. Can you imagine a boy band in Armani suits?

Marvelous IL DIVO

Girls, good morning!

On the eve of tomorrow’s IL DIVO concert in Kyiv, I want you closer
meet these wonderful artists. And in Moscow they will be on the 17th,
girls, who allows time and money – go for sure! This is very
beautiful and high quality music.

To say that I love them is just to remain silent)) I am not prone to fanaticism,
but I love them dearly. I was in March at their concert – very much to me
I liked the live performance + it turned out to be a nice bonus that my friend
boyfriend of some Hamburg VIP and we went backstage and talked with the Divas in
informal setting. True, I don’t understand German, but they communicated in
him, but I was happy to just stand next to him and then
took a picture with them))

Il Divo is an international quartet of pop artists with
conservatory training and operatic voices, entered in the book of records
Guinness as the most commercially successful international pop project.
They are the “top” representatives of the classic crossover genre. The quartet was
created in 2003 by Simon Cowell, who was inspired by the success of the 3
tenors (Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras). Several years were spent
castings, as a result of which 4 soloists were selected: 3 tenors and 1 baritone.
To be honest, this is the only “unpleasant” nuance that confuses me – Il
Wonderful commercial project, “artificially” created. Debut album
“shot” and hit the first places in many charts. The subsequent ones were not
less successful. This year the guys will celebrate the 10th anniversary, by this date they will
preparing a new album. Conducted several world tours – they collect full houses,
stadiums. They sang a duet with Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Toni Braxton were
performers of the official anthem of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
anniversary of the Queen of England, at some celebration in the White House, before
Obama. Il Divo were named the winners in the “Artist or
Team of the Decade” Classical BRIT Awards 2011
year.

Well, now about the soloists! Good news (on the gossip it really is
relevant! :)) – everyone is heterosexual)))

S:) Stian Izambard is a French singer. Born March 7, 1973. The only one
in a quartet without a classical conservatory education. been enough
a successful solo pop artist before joining a group. Married and has 3
children. Sometimes he forgets the words at concerts, it turns out incredibly funny))

David Miller is an American tenor. Born 14 April 1973 years old. Graduated
Oberlin Conservatory with honors. He has performed at many opera venues,
including the legendary La Scala. Married, wife Sarah Joy is also an opera singer
(soprano).

Urs Buhler is Swiss. Tenor. Born July 19, 1971. Sang in the choir since childhood
and can play many musical instruments. Graduated from the Amsterdam
conservatory. Humor – in his youth he organized and was a soloist in a group,
who played heavy metal)) Is fond of motorcycles. Has a daughter, not married
girl friend. Polyglot. He has some incredible “cat” green
eyes.

Carlos Marin – baritone, Spaniard. My favorite – on my avatar his photo and
the cat was named after this Artist)) Born on October 13, 1968 in
Germany. Graduated from the Madrid Conservatory. Was a successful operatic artist before
Il Divo, also sang in many musicals. I listened to operas with his performance –
Of course, in Il Divo, he does not fully reveal his voice, sorry. Not
married – tells at concerts that he is a “single” and promises everyone beautiful
call the girls in the hall))

I have problems with inserting a video – posts always fly off, so I
just give links to YouTube – listen, please! It’s pleasure and delight
for your ears will be!))

My favorite songs, unfortunately they don’t perform them at concerts:

Ti amero http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEn6v3tjh2Y

The man you love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPMdPSywN4

Semper Semper http://www.