Keith Urban reveals why ‘violence was perpetrated’ at opera

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman made headlines after a showdown with another patron when they attended the opera in Australia in January, and in a new interview, the nation’s superstar explains why another opera spectator has was so upset that he “hit” Kidman with his program, causing a major scene.

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

“We didn’t know you weren’t supposed to be in the opera,” Urban tells the Kyle and Jackie O Show on Australian FM radio station KIIS. “We sit down, we are with Nic’s mother and we clap. It was a great performance, it was so good, and I look around, and we clap and clap, everyone is clapping, and I look around and I see a few people standing, and a few others, and I I was like, ‘Oh, damn it, I’m getting up.’ “

This turned out to be a violation of opera protocol which prompted a swift rebuke.

“And I got up, and then this guy behind me just punched, not me, Nic. Just like I really punched her with a program,” Urban recalls.

This sparked an angry reaction from the country star, who had a verbal argument with the man. Urban’s security team ended up removing Urban, Kidman, and his mother from the room, Sydney Morning Herald reports. Kidman looked so visibly upset that someone even ended up calling the police, but Urban laughed at the incident in retrospect.

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

The singer tried to treat the other client fairly rather than going crazy, he adds.

“I think I just looked at it, I said, ‘It’s a standing ovation,’ like I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to do it,” Urban says. “At the same time, I understand. I understand that there’s this thing going on where there’s a traditional thing that says you don’t do that. I respect that.”