Overview
- The alleged incident took place on June 16 when a female festival employee approached Gardiner onstage at the Thomaskirche to hand him a thank-you scroll and says he made a physically intrusive advance while the applause continued.
- The employee has filed a criminal complaint that the Leipzig public prosecutor registered under the sexual-harassment statute (§184i StGB) and said the reported facts will be examined impartially under all criminal-law aspects.
- Multiple outlets report that a video recording exists and that the footage is now subject to external review to help clarify what happened onstage.
- Festival leaders say Gardiner met them, expressed regret or apologized for inappropriate behavior, and his team denies a sexual assault, calling the episode a misunderstanding.
- The Bach-Archiv has offered psychological support to the employee, opened internal and external reviews and is considering consequences up to cancelling future Gardiner appearances, a stance sharpened by his widely reported 2023 on-tour incident in France.