The Louisville Ballet is pushing back against "hateful" comments concerning a recent show featuring an LGBT love story, including an email from a University of Louisville faculty member whose words have been criticized by school leaders.

The ballet recently published an "Open Letter Against Hatred and Prejudice" after receiving homophobic and derogatory responses about "Human Abstract," a show that prominently featured a same-sex relationship and ended its run Sunday.

"Some people were concerned with the subject material, whereas others were simply hateful," ballet officials told the Courier Journal in an email. "We knew by promoting a love story between two men we would make some people uncomfortable, but we were not prepared for this grotesque display of hate."

Top leaders at the University of Louisville on Thursday distanced themselves and the school from an "inflammatory email" a faculty member sent to the Louisville Ballet that included comments critical of people who are LGBT.

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University Provost Beth Boehm and School of Medicine Dean Toni Ganzel did not name the faculty member or include the content of his email to the ballet in their letter to students, faculty and staff on Thursday, but they did say his comments were disheartening and "do not represent the values we hold dear at the University of Louisville."

University spokesman John Karman confirmed Thursday that the faculty member in question who sent the offending email is Dr. Roberto Bolli of U of L's medical school.

The Louisville Ballet said it first began receiving negative responses about "Human Abstract" after it launched its 2018-19 Season of Romance in February 2018. ("Human Abstract" was part of that lineup.)

Recent promotions for the show were met with more complaints.

The email Bolli reportedly sent was published online by Arts Writing Is Dead, a website that features regional arts and culture writing. It was sent in March 2018 and criticized a brochure from the ballet that promoted "Human Abstract" with a picture of two partially nude men.

The email included homophobic language and sentiments.

"Stop sending this filth to my house!" Bolli's email to the ballet said, among other things, according to Arts Writing is Dead's website. "Your organization is EVIL."

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Bolli did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday or to another request the Courier Journal sent earlier this week. He is chief of the medical school's Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, according to U of L's website, and previously received a major, multimillion-dollar federal grant for stem cell research.

Bolli’s comments to the ballet prompted the American Heart Association to relieve him of his position as editor-in-chief of one of its scientific journals, “Circulation Research.”

“Dr. Bolli has become the subject of public scrutiny in light of comments he has made that have been alleged to be hate speech,” said Greg Donaldson, a senior vice president for the association. “The American Heart Association has a zero tolerance policy with respect to personal conduct that conflicts with its guiding values and its commitment to an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion and values cultural, racial, gender and other differences to help it succeed in achieving its mission and goals.”

Donaldson said the AHA thanks Bolli for his service to the journal and to the organization.

In their letter to the U of L community, Boehm and Ganzel noted that Bolli's email to the ballet appeared to be "personal," rather than professional, in nature.

"The faculty member did not mention the university or use his title in the email," Ganzel and Boehm wrote. "Still, his words have proven hurtful to many of our faculty, staff and students, particularly those in the LGBT community."

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The ballet said it has endured vitriolic responses for years, but "it has never occurred in the volume it did" for "Human Abstract." However, the organization said the positive support far outweighed the negative.

"We were touched by the overwhelming support and love sent to us from those in our community as well as around the world," the ballet said. "Celebrities including Jim James, S.E. Hinton and Dan Savage have expressed their support, which has only allowed our message of love and acceptance to spread farther."

The ballet declined to discuss the email it received from Bolli.

"Louisville Ballet's position has always been that we will not give this type of rhetoric a platform. We will not fight hate with hate," the ballet said.

Arts Writing is Dead has published a series of posts criticizing Bolli's email. On March 1, a new post quoted Bolli as having told the site that his words had been "distorted and misrepresented."

"My personal religious views on homosexuality have NOTHING to do with my treatment of queer patients. … I treat ALL PATIENTS, including queer patients, with the utmost compassion and respect," Arts Writing is Dead quoted Bolli as saying.

The website also stated that Bolli said, "I certainly do not hate queer people; as a Christian, I love them."

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Karman, U of L's spokesman, said someone provided Bolli's ballet email to the university in February.

Karman also said if the university were to take any other actions beyond Thursday's letter to the U of L community, it would be a personnel matter that the school would not discuss publicly.

In Thursday's letter, Boehm and Ganzel emphasized that U of L celebrates diversity in all its forms and noted that University President Neeli Bendapudi often stresses that diversity is a core value for the school.

"We encourage all members of our campus community to continue to respect and honor our differences and to learn from one another," they wrote. "By sharing our unique abilities, perspectives and life experiences, we build a stronger community for us all."

As for how the Louisville Ballet is proceeding, the organization said it plans to continue making art that "reflects our community and a safe space for everyone's stories."

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Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @morganwatkins26. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/morganw.