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Roger Waters Is Threatening Legal Action Over Canceled Shows

By Donielle Flynn March 18th

Recently, two of Rogers Waters’ “This Is Not a Drill” tour dates in Germany were dropped by local governments.  The Frankfurt city council (and Hessian State government) said they were canceling Waters’ May 23rd concert to “set an example against antisemitism.” Four days after Franfurt’s announcement, Munich canceled their show scheduled for May 21st.  Now Roger Waters is threatening legal action (Longview News-Journal).

Waters Management/ Legal Team Release Joint Statement

In an excerpt from the statement, “Mr. Waters has instructed his lawyers to immediately take all necessary steps to overturn this unjustifiable decision. [This is] to ensure that his fundamental human right of freedom of speech is protected and that all of those who wish to see him perform, are free to do so in Frankfurt, Munich, and in any other city in any other country.”  The statement also says, the cancellation of the two shows are, “unconstitutional, without justification and based upon the false accusation that Roger Waters is antisemitic, which he is not.”

Roger says he can’t imagine not including Germany in his farewell tour. “Your ruling class and your media want to ban me from bringing my message of love and peace and revolution to enrich your lives.” (per UltimateClassicRock.com)

These two “canceled” shows aren’t actually officially canceled… not yet, anyway.  Tickets are still available for purchase on Roger Waters’ website.  His management/legal team also said, “Mr. Waters believes that if this blatant attempt to silence him is left unchallenged it could have serious, far-reaching consequences for artists and activists all over the world.”

Waters on Putin

Roger Waters has been taking heat ever since he spoke at a UN security council meeting after being invited to speak by the Russian delegation.  Ukraine representatives lit him up over his supportive stance of Putin and his downplaying of the Russian aggression on Ukraine.  In an interview translation from rogerwaters.com, Waters said, “Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am now more open to listen(ing) to what Putin actually says. According to independent voices I listen to, he governs carefully, making decisions on the grounds of a consensus in the Russian Federation government. There are also critical intellectuals in Russia, who have been arguing against American imperialism since the 1950s.”

David Gilmour & Wife vs. Roger Waters: Nasty War of Words Continues

David Gilmour and Roger Waters have engaged in their war of words in the media for several years now. For those hopeful they’d resolve their differences, that appears not to be happening anytime soon.

The past 24 hours have seen Gilmour and his wife, Polly Samson, take aim at Waters over a recent interview he did with German newspaper Berliner Zeitung. Waters, himself, shared the translated interview to his official website.

He prefaced the interview with a personal message on his website saying, in part, “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.”

Waters also alleges the “Israeli Lobby” tried to cancel his “85% sold out series of concerts in Germany.”

From Waters’ remarks in the interview to Samson and Gilmour’s responses, here’s a breakdown of the situation:

  • Waters' interview contains many controversial statements

    The entire interview Waters gave to Berliner Zeitung is worth reading. However, among his most notable remarks, Waters defends Russian President Vladimir Putin and says people are “brainwashed” into seeing him as the aggressor in the current conflict between Russian and Ukraine. Additionally, he claims there’s Nazism in Ukraine and that “Israelis are committing genocide.”

  • Polly Samson's remarks

    Samson took to Twitter in response to Waters’ interview. She wrote, “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.”

  • Waters responds to Samson

    Following Samson’s tweet, Waters shared the following statement to social media:

    “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 positions.”

  • Gilmour Chimes In

    After Waters’ response, Gilmour injects himself in this back-and-forth by retweeting his wife’s comments and adding, “Every word demonstrably true.”

Donielle Fynn is a Michigan native with two kids, two dogs, two cats, a love of yoga, and all things classic rock.

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