Roger Waters accused of antisemitism by former Pink Floyd producer
Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has been accused of further antisemitic behaviour, with new claims emerging in the documentary The Dark Side of Roger Waters.
The film has been created by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) to explore Waters’ repeated history of alleged bigotry, which he has been accused of for many years.
Bob Ezrin, who co-produced Pink Floyd’s The Wall, claimed that during recording, he heard Waters refer to Bryan Morrison, the band’s agent, as a “fucking Jew.”
Ezrin explained, “Something like the last line of the couplet was ’cause Morry is a fucking Jew’. It was my first inclination that there may be some antisemitism under the surface. Now Roger knew that I’m Jewish so I didn’t know whether this was another one of those sort of button-poking things that he was doing just to see if I would react or whether he just did not even get how offensive that might be to a Jewish person.”
The producer suggested that Waters would rebuff claims of antisemitism, stating, “I’ll bet you dollars for doughnuts he does not and he will be the first person to say: ‘I’m not anti anything, I am in favour of everyone.’ But as a person with a powerful public platform he has a responsibility to understand that what he does affects other people.”
Moreover, the saxophonist Norbert Stachel claimed that Waters mocked his Jewish ancestors and refused to eat what he referred to as “Jew food.” He revealed that Waters “tried to go into character as a babushka, and he puts on this impression of an old hag. He tries to portray a Polish Jewish peasant woman’s voice,” claiming that Waters said, ‘I’ll introduce you to your dead grandmother.'”
Additionally, Waters allegedly demanded, “What’s with the Jew food? Take away the Jew food,” much to Stachel’s shock. The saxophonist added, “I’m just sitting there, oh boy, tongue-tied again and kind of in a panic because I don’t know what to do. Am I supposed to leave and then be judged?”
Waters has yet to respond to the claims.
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