Cyberbullying in Classical Music

Cyberbullying affects people of all ages and all industries. In this article, one singer shares her experience with cyberbullying. 

On the morning of January 21 of this year, I woke up to numerous messages from friends and colleagues alerting me that there was a post on social media in which I was called derogatory names and my legitimacy as an artist and arts executive was questioned. The post discouraged people from hiring me or working with me, calling me a “low-quality fraud.” It was posted in a singer group that I belonged to for many years. 

When I went to the group, I realized that I had been blocked from it. Colleagues who volunteered to post on my behalf were blocked as well. When the comments on the post started questioning the validity of the claims against me, the comments were turned off. One more post about me, from a fake profile, appeared in the same group—this time, comments were disabled from the start. Needless to say, the claims written in the post were baseless and fabricated. However, they included enough detail from my professional life to seem legitimate. I filed a police report and contacted a lawyer. I was not going to fight this online. 

I will skip the details describing the personal toll these posts—and the fallout from them—took on me. At the time, I was in my hometown for an extended visit while my father was fighting for his life with stage four prostate cancer, complicated by heart and kidney failure. There could not have been a worse time in my life to deal with cyberbullying, something I had always thought happened to other people. I believed that if I lived my life in the light, was a good colleague, was a consummate professional, and was guided by ethics, I would be immune. 

Simply put, I was painfully and naively wrong. Cyberbullying does not discriminate. We are all victims of it, whether we have been targeted or not. And this is why I am writing this article. Other people became me overnight. “Other people” is every artist threading the very thin line between privacy and being in the limelight. By nature, singers have to expose their lives onstage and online. We are asked for artistic vulnerability onstage, a personable online presence, openness, and directness. If we are in the limelight, we are doing well professionally. And that has a cost. In 2025, with social media and rapidly blurring lines of privacy, that cost has a global impact.

Virtually every colleague who contacted me in response to the posts disclosed that they had also endured cyberbullying. The stories varied: posting stage photos of them in costume while being ridiculed and called degrading names, circulating false accusations about teachers with the aim of getting them fired, online stalking escalating to stalking in real life, widespread singer fetish and fixation, relentlessly and repeatedly posting derogatory comments on YouTube videos, publicly sharing private messages that have been edited to the detriment of the sender, circulating recordings of colleagues accompanied by demeaning commentary, trolling and making degrading comments, posting false accusations publicly with no evidence . . . The list goes on and on. 

I searched for articles written particularly on cyberbullying in classical music. Although there is a fair amount written on bullying, I found almost nothing on cyberbullying in our field. We have all read the posts about the dark corners of the industry, but cyberbullying is a different beast. It is often anonymous and permanent. The Internet never goes away, and thus the bullying becomes perpetual. 

In all the stories shared with me, cyberbullies fell into two general categories: well known singers of the past who did not quite find their place after their singing careers wound down, and singers who have not been successful in securing employment in the business. Of course, there are exceptions. Cyberbullies often feel righteous and indignant, hiding behind “free speech” and practicing selective empathy. Their misplaced sense of inadequacy becomes a weapon, used to victimize someone else as a way to relieve their own sense of being a victim. No responsibility is taken, and no consequences are suffered. This is further exacerbated by the fact that in most countries, cyber laws lag behind the rapid development of the Internet and AI. 

However, cyberbullies are the other side of the same coin: also victims. They are not individuals who are at peace and content, leading full and vibrant lives. They are people who feel deeply deficient, lost, often isolated, and lacking true community. They see our business as a battlefield and other professionals as enemies.

Stories of cyberbullying have one thing in common: inflicting deliberate harm without repercussions. There is an old Bulgarian saying: “Cлед мен потоп” which roughly translates as “After me, the Great Flood.” I was reminded of this old proverb when looking at the glaring communalities across all stories of cyberbullying:

• It is often a planned and coordinated effort with the purpose to inflict maximum harm.
• It aims to publicly shame and devastate the targeted individual, smearing their character and reputation, damaging their career, and disrupting their personal life.
• The target is often purposefully blocked from seeing the content, thus cutting off access and making public response impossible.
• Bullies avoid transparent communication or open dialogue.
• The intent is not to expose wrongdoing or seek justice.
• Information is manipulated—cherry-picked from half-truths—to push a curated, self-serving narrative.
• It is often done anonymously, preventing any legal or personal recourse. 
• Opinions are presented as facts.
• The attacks are rarely aimed at organizations, only individuals.

Cyberbullying is sterile. Words are written lightly but land heavily and permanently on the receiving end. It is emotionless, often faceless. It strikes at the very core of our human need for community and belonging, especially in a business often void of both. It weaponizes that human need and twists it into sheep mentality. In the age of fluid factual information, discerning truth from fiction is hard at best. Objectivity is now a luxury.

Ultimately, the responsibility to stop cyberbullying in our industry lies with each of us, not just with those being targeted. Cyberbullying is a symptom of the disproportionate growth of cyberspace compared to the evolution of human nature. It is also a symptom of the illnesses of our industry—an industry that often runs on reputation, bias, unwritten rules, unspoken dynamics, and nepotism. In such an industry, the damage caused by cyberbullying extends beyond words.

If you are the victim of cyberbullying, you are not powerless. The first step is to seek help from someone you trust, such as a close family member or friend. If you are a minor, seek a trusted adult. Many schools and universities have anti-bullying policies. Check with your voice teachers, advisor, or department to find out the avenues for reporting.

Please note that your mental health is a priority, and you may need to ask for others to help collect evidence for reporting. If cyberbullying is affecting your mental health, seek mental health services. For emergency mental health services, including feelings of hopeless-ness or suicidal throughs, call 988.

Visit stopbullying.gov for more information on how to report cyberbullying.