Russian opera star who refused to denounce Putin wins $200,000 payout from the Met Opera

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

Anna Netrebko — who supported Putin for president in 2012 and called his Western critics “bad” — was one of the Met’s biggest stars until she was suddenly cut from 13 shows following last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An arbitrator has now ruled that she should be compensated for the canceled performances, claiming that there is “no doubt” that she is a supporter of Putin, but that she had “every right” to be so.

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

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

Netrebko distanced himself from Putin last year, but failed to publicly condemn him. 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 did not speak out against him publicly.

In a New York Times ruling, arbitrator Howard C. Edelman said, “There is no question that she was a supporter of Putin, and she was entitled to be.”

He added that this was “certainly not a moral outrage or worthy of criminal misconduct in itself.”

The ruling was made last month, but only came to light this week.

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

She was paid about $15,000 for each performance—the Met’s top performer fee.

But Edelman said she was not entitled to those fees for those performances because there were no official contracts.

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, wearing blackface make-up.

In the spat, leading soprano Angel Blue condemned it as “offensive, demeaning and downright racist.”

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

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

Last year she came under fire for an ‘offensive’ performance of Verdi’s ‘Aida’ in Italy, in which she wore blackface make-up

The Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, told the New York Times: “While our contracts are ‘pay or play’, we did not feel it was morally right to pay Netrebko anything given her close relationship with Putin.

“It’s an artistic loss to the Met that she doesn’t sing here. But there’s no way the Met or the majority of the public would tolerate her presence.”

Separately, the Met announced on Friday that it would fire Netrebko’s husband.

Tenor Tusif Eyvazov was dropped from a production of ‘Tosca’ which premieres on March 30.

And Netrebko has also faced a series of cancellations worldwide. She was cut from a concert in Taiwan at the last minute this month because of her ties to Putin.

After news of her cancellations of the Met appearances 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 speak out against Vladimir Putin.

“I replied that I had a Russian passport, that he was still the president and that I could not utter these words in public. So I declined.’

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

The Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, told the New York Times that he didn’t think it was “morally right” to pay Netrebko given her ties to Putin.

When tensions between Russia and Ukraine began to escalate in March last year, many Russian celebrities and sports stars were pressured to publicly condemn the conflict – though many refused to comply.

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

The Women’s Tennis Association told the player the shirt was “not acceptable or appropriate.”