Roger Waters denies pro-Putin, anti-Semite claims as Pink Floyd row erupts online

Musician Roger Waters has refuted ‘incendiary’ comments made by lyricist Polly Samson — and endorsed by the band’s guitarist Dave Gilmour — in a heated online spat.

Founding member of Pink Floyd, now solo artist, Roger Waters has hit back at claims of anti-Semitism.

Former Pink Floyd lead vocalist and bass player Roger Waters has refuted “wildly inaccurate” claims that he is a Putin apologist and an anti-Semite in an online spat with the wife of the band’s guitarist David Gilmour.

Polly Samson, who is married to Gilmour and helped write several of the band’s songs after Waters left in 1985, wrote on social media that the former band leader is “anti-Semitic” to his “rotten core.”

“Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac,” Samson tweeted on Monday. “Enough of your nonsense.”

Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching,misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.

— pollysamson (@PollySamson) February 6, 2023

Gilmour echoed her sentiment, quote-tweeting her message and writing: “Every word is demonstrably true.”

Waters replied, saying that he “refutes entirely” the “incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments’ made by Samson.

pic.twitter.com/CIIy5r6SyA

— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) February 6, 2023

The row was reportedly sparked by an interview Waters shared with the German publication Berliner Zeitung, in which the musician voiced his views on Ukraine, Putin, and Israel.

THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE

Against the backdrop of the outrageous and despicable smear campaign by the ISRAELI LOBBY to denounce me as an ANTI-SEMITE, WHICH I AM NOT, NEVER HAVE BEEN and NEVER WILL BE.https://t.co/bWhJ29bwiv

— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) February 5, 2023

In the interview, Waters condemned the “Israel lobby” for trying to “silence” him amid controversy over his upcoming tour in Germany. After a number of politicians and religious leaders called for his concerts to be cancelled over his stance on Ukraine, and his past comments on Israel, in which he compared the Israeli state to Nazi Germany.

Waters, who has called for a boycott of Israel and its products, told the publication that he stood by this comparison because “Israelis are committing genocide.”

Last year, two scheduled Waters concerts in Poland were cancelled over an open letter he sent to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, in which he said that “extreme nationalists” in Ukraine were to blame for “this disastrous war”.

Waters on stage.

The musician, who previously called Putin a “gangster” and claims he is on Ukraine’s ‘kill list’, further defended Russia’s attack on Ukraine — saying that the country had been provoked by the actions of the United States and NATO into invading. He also said that Russia’s war was “probably the most provoked invasion ever.”

“What everyone in the West is being told is the ‘unprovoked invasion’ narrative. Huh? Anyone with half a brain can see that the conflict in Ukraine was provoked beyond all measure,” he said.

He added that he thought it was “really, really sad” that his former bandmates had recorded ‘Hey Hey Rise Up,’ their first song in 30 years, to raise money for Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

In March last year, Pink Floyd removed its post-1987 material from streaming services in Russia and Belarus to boycott the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The band’s earlier material, featuring Waters, is still available.