Pink Floyd guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour and former bandmate Roger Waters have been famously feuding for nearly four decades, but the newest accusation at the expense of Waters has the latter considering legal action.
To give you a very brief history, Waters was forced out of the band over creative control and differences in 1985, very soon after Gilmour joined Pink Floyd. Waters pursued a solo career and sought legal action against his former bandmates over the use of the Pink Floyd name.
The latest installation of the drama, however, unfolded when Gilmour's wife Polly Samson called Waters a "misogynistic Putin apologist" in a long string of insults.
The insult seemed to have stemmed from an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung that Waters posted to his website, translated to English.
He was asked about his thoughts on Pink Floyd's protest song "Hey Hey Rise Up" released last year about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Waters revealed:
"I have seen the video, and I am not surprised, but I find it really, really sad. It's so alien to me."
"This action is so lacking in humanity. It encourages the continuation of war. Pink Floyd is a name I used to be associated with."
"That was a huge time in my life, a very big deal. To associate the name now with something like this... proxy war makes me sad."
He continued:
"I mean, they haven't made the point of demanding, 'Stop the war, stop the slaughter, bring our leaders together to talk!'"
"It's just this content-less waving of the blue and yellow flag."
Waters also shared that he wrote in a letter to Ukrainian teen Alina who asked for his position on the war back in March:
"I will not raise a flag in this conflict, not a Ukrainian flag, not a Russian flag, not a U.S. flag."
He posted part of the letter to Instagram.
Waters has always loudly and proudly publicly shared his political opinions publicly—as he did in his Instagram post—but he has lately come under harsh criticism for his concert rants during his 'This Is not a Drill' tour in which he made many egregious political claims.
Well, Samson wasn't having any of it.
She tweeted:
"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."
\u201cSadly @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.\u201d— pollysamson (@pollysamson) 1675672400
Her husband seconded the tweet.
"Every word demonstrably true."
\u201cEvery word demonstrably true\u201d— David Gilmour (@David Gilmour) 1675725200
People heavily weighed in on Twitter. Many sided with Samson and Gilmour given some of Waters' past comments.
I just read his interview with the German paper. He has completely lost it. To think that a man whose father died fighting fascists would spend his years of dotage as a mouthpiece for fascists! It's a depressing spectacle.
— Idrees Ahmad (@im_PULSE) February 6, 2023
He lost me when he apologized Chavez and praised Maduro… it was hard to understand for me as a hard core fan that I was
— Chef Eric Bonillo 🍊🇺🇸 (@EricBonillo) February 7, 2023
As life long Pink Floyd Fan, the best thing Roger could do is to stop all this political nonsense that he keeps spouting. Totally agree with @PollySamson
— yorkshireguy (@yorkshireguy3) February 6, 2023
I agree, Roger wrote some of my favourite songs, but you are right, his views are quite rotten, especially when he gets to lecture Ukrainians on what to think about the war of conquest that is brought unto them by his “lesser evil” pal Putin.
— Elias Artista (@artista_elias) February 7, 2023
The recent Rolling Stone podcast interview - in which it became clear quite how far he had fallen down the rabbit-hole - was truly one of the bleakest things I've ever heard.
— David Davies (@DDaviesScribe10) February 6, 2023
Some, however, came to Waters' defense claiming Samson's slanderous statement is cause enough for a lawsuit.
I so look forward to @rogerwaters lawsuit against you. Literally nothing you said about him is true. You must be a profoundly unhappy person to spew such vile nonsense.
— John Kiriakou (@JohnKiriakou) February 7, 2023
Every single one of those claims is slanderous and an outirght lie. @rogerwaters should sue you for every cent you've got and give it to the children of Palestine. I mean, 'thieving'?! What the actual? 🤯
— James Kennedy (@JamesKennedyUK) February 6, 2023
Absolute rubbish. Roger is not antisemitic or a Putin apologist. 1) Roger condemns the behaviour of Israel towards Palestine. 2) He knows what the war is really about, not what he is told by MSM. To be honest I think you owe him an apology
— The Paranoid Poet (@petealexander13) February 6, 2023
In response to Samson's claims, Waters tweeted his statement"
"Roger Waters is aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter by Polly Samson which he refutes entirely."
"He is currently taking advice as to his position."
\u201chttps://t.co/CIIy5r6SyA\u201d— Roger Waters (@Roger Waters) 1675722114
Stay tuned...
