Russian Met Opera Singer’s Ukraine War-Based Bias Claims Back On

The Metropolitan Opera must face a Russian soprano Anna Netrebko‘s claims that her firing after Russia invaded Ukraine constituted national origin discrimination, a New York federal judge ruled on reconsideration.

The ruling partially sets aside the US District Court for the Southern District of New York’s August 2024 decision dismissing those claims as well as defamation and breach-of-contract allegations against the Metropolitan Opera Association and the Met’s general manager. The prior decision overlooked assertions that the plaintiff was replaced with someone who isn’t Russian, which was enough to raise an inference of bias, the court said.

It cited the ...