The Hannover State Opera said Thursday that it is ending its contract with ballet director Marco Goecke after he smeared dog feces on the face of a newspaper critic whose reviews he had taken exception to.

Goecke was after the Saturday attack on dance critic Wiebke Huester of German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The confrontation took place during the interval of a premiere at the opera house.

The theaterB次元官网网址檚 management had called on him to apologize B次元官网网址渃omprehensivelyB次元官网网址� and explain himself. Goecke later issued a statement describing his behavior as B次元官网网址渁bsolutely unacceptableB次元官网网址� but said he had acted B次元官网网址漣n the heat of the momentB次元官网网址� and while suffering from B次元官网网址渘ervous strainB次元官网网址� resulting from two premieres in quick succession.

He accused Huester of writing B次元官网网址渙ften nasty reviews.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 apologize for the fact that I finally blew my top, but I also ask for a certain understanding at least for the reasons why this happened,B次元官网网址� he said.

The attack and Marco GoeckeB次元官网网址檚 tepid apology were widely criticized. HannoverB次元官网网址檚 mayor, Belit Onay, said attacks on press freedom should have B次元官网网址渘o placeB次元官网网址� in the city.

The head of the opera house, Laura Berman, said its contract with Goecke would be dissolved with immediate effect by mutual agreement and that he would be permitted to access the premises for the time being.