(Credit: Vladimir Shirokov)

Anna Netrebko’s national origin discrimination claim has been reinstated in her lawsuit against Peter Gelb and the Metropolitan Opera.

On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, U.S. District Judge Analisa Nadine Torres in Manhattan stated that the soprano and her team could proceed with the claim alongside her claim of gender discrimination.

With the claim reinstated, the case will “proceed through discovery, summary judgment motions (if any), and trial on the national origin and gender discrimination claims under the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws.”

The news comes after the national origin discrimination claim was dismissed by Torres in August 2024. At that time, Torres also dismissed allegations of defamation and breach of contract. But in her latest decision, the judge wrote that the “allegations support the inference that Netrebko’s replacement by non-Russian artists occurred under circumstances giving rise to at least a ‘minimal’ inference of discrimination.” Back in August 2024, Torres did proceed with the allegation of gender discrimination, noting that bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin and baritones Igor Golovatenko and Alexey Markov were allowed to continue to perform regardless of their ties to the Russian government. In that 23-page ruling, Torres also references Ildar Abdrazakov, who resigned from the Met even though he endorsed Putin.

The news also comes days after Anna Netrebko’s team filed a supplemental complaint against the Metropolitan Opera and Peter Gelb, addressing defamatory statements made by the Met’s General Manager. In that letter to the court accompanying the draft complaint filed on July 24, 2025, the soprano’s lawyer Julie Ulmet said, “As alleged in the proposed supplemental complaint, subsequent to Plaintiff’s commencement of this litigation, Gelb and the Met began a renewed public campaign to defame Netrebko and disparage her in retaliation for instituting this litigation against them. This renewed campaign—grounded in verifiably false statements—was intended to inflict further harm on Netrebko’s career by publicly positioning the Met as a champion of Ukraine while falsely portraying Netrebko as emblematic of the Putin regime. Gelb’s direct references to this lawsuit in the recent disparaging and defamatory interviews show that they are attempts to retaliate against Netrebko for pursuing her claims against Defendants. Moreover, Gelb’s decision to unnecessarily defame Netrebko in an interview with Ukraine’s national news agency—during a time when Ukraine and Russia are engaged in continuing and escalating conflict—can only have been intended to intimidate Netrebko and place her in harm’s way. The dissemination of the statements throughout Ukraine and beyond increased the possibility of threats of physical harm to Netrebko as she performs around the world.”

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