LA's Celebration Theatre Terminates Artistic Director Michael A. Shepperd After Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Los Angeles' Celebration Theatre has fired Artistic Director Michael A. Shepperd following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Andrew Diego, who starred in a 2019 production of The Producers alongside Shepperd, wrote in an April Facebook post: "Almost immediately, inappropriate and unwanted behavior started taking place. To me, to others. It existed in the ambiguous "this is theatre" grey area, which, especially in a queer space, meant that it was accepted as part of the culture. I began to doubt that I'd been cast for my talent and had instead been chosen due to my desirability. I didn't understand the many complexities at the time, but I knew that what was happening was wrong. It's time to bring all of this into focus and address it head on," he wrote.

"During our cast warm-ups pre-show, many would often take to the stage to stretch, vocalize, etc. It wasn't uncommon for Mr. Shepperd to put his hands around my waist from behind, or loom over me and breathe onto my neck while touching my torso."

A new statement from the theatre reads: "Michael A. Shepperd's decades-long contributions to Celebration Theatre and the Los Angeles theatre community are significant. We value and respect his artistry both as a director and as an actor. However, based on the findings and recommendations of an independent investigation initiated April 14th by our Board of Directors, prompted by allegations of a pattern of misconduct raised by Andrew Diego in his April 14th Facebook post, Celebration Theatre terminated Shepperd's role as Artistic Director on May 24th. The final investigative report was delivered to the Board of Directors on May 22nd and included other credible accounts of misconduct, as determined by the independent counsel. His termination was effective immediately."

Celebration is an award winning theatre company dedicate to telling the stories of the LGBT community. The theater was founded in 1982 by gay rights pioneer, Charles Rowland, one of the original founders of the Mattachine Society. The theatre started out in a storefront in Silverlake, Los Angeles, CA before moving to Hollywood where it lived for 21 years before leaving that space in the summer of 2013. Learn more here.