Russian opera star who refused to speak out against Putin wins $200,000 from Met Opera

A Russian soprano has won a $200,000 payout from the Metropolitan Opera after it canceled a series of her performances when she refused to speak out against leader Vladimir Putin last year.

Anna Netrebko – who backed Putin for president in 2012 and called his Western critics ‘diabolical’ – was one of the Met’s biggest stars until she was suddenly cut from 13 shows after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last year.

An arbitrator has now ruled she should be compensated for the canceled performances, saying there was ‘no doubt’ she was a Putin supporter but had ‘every right’ to do so. be.

Netrebko – who was also embroiled in a blackface scandal last year – argued she was entitled to the money under a ‘pay or play’ agreement which requires institutions to pay performers even if they later choose to cancel them.

But bosses argued she was not entitled to the money because she breached the company’s conduct clause.

Netrebko distanced himself from Putin last year but failed to condemn him publicly. She is pictured with him in 2013 at the opening of the new Marlinsky II Theater in Saint Petersburg, Russia

She denounced the war last February and distanced herself from the leader – but failed to speak out publicly against him.

In a decision seen by The New York Times, arbitrator Howard C. Edelman said, “There is no question that she was a Putin supporter, as she had every right to be.”

He added that it was “certainly not moral turpitude or worthy, in itself, of actionable misconduct”.

The decision was made last month but was only made public this week.

Netrebko had originally requested $400,000 in fees for future performances which she had discussed with the Opera, but had not yet officially agreed.

She was paid around $15,000 for each performance – the Met’s honorarium for top performers.

But Edelman said she was not entitled to those fees for those performances because no formal contract was in place.

She was also fined $30,000 for making “inappropriate” statements about the invasion.

On social media, she called Western critics of the conflict “as bad as blind aggressors”.

Last year, she came under fire for a performance of Verdi’s “Aida” in Italy in which she wore blackface makeup.

The row saw leading soprano Angel Blue condemn it as “offensive, humiliating and downright racist”.

She was also fined $30,000 for making “inappropriate” statements, such as calling Western critics of Russia “evil”.

Netrebko had originally requested $400,000 in fees for future performances which she had discussed with the Opera, but had not yet officially agreed.

Last year she was criticized for an ‘offensive’ performance of Verdi’s ‘Aida’ in Italy in which she wore blackface makeup

Met chief executive Peter Gelb told The New York Times: “Although our contracts are ‘pay or play’, we didn’t think it was morally right to pay Netrebko anything given his close association with Putin”.

“It’s an artistic loss for the Met not to have her sing here.” But there’s no way the Met or the majority of its audience will tolerate his presence.

Separately, the Met announced on Friday that it was firing Netrebko’s husband.

Tenor Tusif Eyvazov has been cut from a production of “Tosca” which was due to open on March 30.

And Netrebko also faced a string of cancellations around the world. She was cut from a concert in Taiwan at the last minute this month due to her ties to Putin.

After news of her canceled Met performances first broke, she told French newspaper Le Monde: “The Met was the first to insist that I clarify my position on what I have done .” But I was also asked to declare myself against Vladimir Putin.

“I replied that I had a Russian passport, that he was still president and that I could not say these words publicly. So I refused.

She added: “We can’t terminate all my future contracts just because they think I’m too close to Putin.”

Met chief executive Peter Gelb told The New York Times he didn’t think it was “morally right” to pay Netrebko given his ties to Putin.

When tensions between Russia and Ukraine began to escalate in March last year, many Russian celebrities and sports stars came under pressure to publicly condemn the conflict – although many refused to comply .

Earlier this week, Russian tennis player Anastasia Potapova received a formal warning for wearing a Spartak Moscow football shirt ahead of her match against American star Jessica Pegula.

The Women’s Tennis Association told the player the jersey was “neither acceptable nor appropriate”.