Disturbed’s David Draiman threatens to punch Roger Waters, says he betrayed “Jews everywhere”
Disturbed’s David Draiman has accused Roger Waters of betraying “Jews everywhere” and has threatened to punch the Pink Floyd star should he be asked to sit down and chat with him.
Draiman appeared on the latest episode of Smashing Pumpkins star Billy Corgan’s podcast, The Magnificent Others, where the two musicians discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict at length.
Corgan brought up Waters, with whom he has worked in the past, and observed that “the defining moment in Roger’s life [was] his father being killed in World War II. It’s in The Wall; he’s made more than one record about it,” conceding that it would be “very traumatic” if it happened to anybody.
Corgan continued his hypothesis that Waters has made “very strong statements against Israel” because of this: “It makes sense to me that a man who grew up in the shadow of World War II, lost his daddy in a war, has really suffered the consequence of that pain, that he would be hypersensitive to a scenario like that.”
Draiman, who faced backlash in 2024 after signing Israeli artillery shells, responded, “I agree…[but] here’s the thing, Billy: I grew up on Pink Floyd. I loved Pink Floyd. It was such a massive betrayal, not just to me, but Jews everywhere when he went in the direction that he did.”
The Disturbed musician suggested that this has been the case for some time: “And it wasn’t just two years ago; he’s been doing this for a long time. Roger has a penchant for dictators — the worst [people] on planet earth. Roger just cozies right up to them. He has no problem whatsoever.”
While Corgan admitted that his “attempt at peacemaking failed”, Draiman added that peacemaking would be impossible, given that Waters is “such a hypocrite”.
He added, “He’s not for human rights. He’s for this weird dictator-driven socialist — I don’t even understand what he’s trying to stand for.”
When Corgan posed the hypothetical situation of Waters asking to sit down and talk with Draiman, the heavy metal singer retorted, “I’d have to punch him first, but yeah.”
Draiman’s latest tirade against Waters adds to comments he made in 2023, when he called the musician a “very sick man” and even a “nazi asshole”.
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