Keith Urban recently attended the Sydney Opera House and ended up in a tricky situation.
In a radio interview on Australia’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show, the country star revealed that he had a shocking experience at the opera while attending with his wife Nicole Kidman and her mother. Urban noted that it was both his and Kidman’s first opera, so they were unfamiliar with the appropriate etiquette. Urban explained that at the end of the performance, he saw several cheering guests begin to stand. Urban and Kidman also stood and clapped. At that moment, a man sitting behind them unexpectedly “whacked” Kidman with his program.
“It was a bit of a pickle that I was in,” Urban explained. “Took a lot of restraint—I was pretty upset.”
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Urban was not sure how to react, but he did eventually speak up. Urban recalled responding to the man sitting behind him.
“I think I just looked at him. I said, ‘It’s a standing ovation!'” the country singer recalled. “I didn’t know I’m not allowed to.”
Urban admitted that he was not aware that it was a tradition not to give standing ovations at the opera. Still, the “Fighter” singer reiterated that he was following the actions of some of the other people in attendance. Urban concluded:
“At the same time, I get it. I get that there’s this thing going on where there’s a tradition or thing that says you don’t do that, and I respect that, but I was also going by a lot of other people who were standing.”
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Listen to Urban’s full interview here.
For more on the country singer’s relationship with Kidman, check out the video below.