Music rights company to part ways with Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters over his comments on Israel and Ukraine.
Music rights company BMG set to part ways entirely with Roger Waters following his controversial comments about Israel, Ukraine and the United States, according to Variety.
According to the publication, the Pink Floyd co-founder and the Germany-based company signed a publishing deal in 2016 and planned to release a re-recorded version of the album Dark Side of the Moon (1973) from the group last year. However, the deal was canceled after the arrival of new CEO Thomas Coesfeld on July 1, 2023, and the record was released by the UK-based Cooking Vinyl label.
A BMG representative declined to comment to WECB.
The musician has recently increased his political positions. In August 2022, he called President Joe Biden “a war criminal » during a broadcast on CNN and claimed that he “ directly fueled the war in Ukraine “. The following month, he published an open letter to Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, in which he targeted the country’s Western arms supply sources.
During his speech before the United Nations Security Council last February, the artist denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as ” illegal “, while affirming that she had not been ” unprovoked “. He added : ” I therefore also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms. There it’s done. »
Roger Waters has already spoken about alleged conspiracies against him, notably in an interview with WECB in 2022. According to him, his name appeared on a “ list of people to be killed supported by the Ukrainian government “. In the same conversation, the singer placed the blame for the ongoing war on NATO, suggesting that the organization left Putin with no choice but to invade Ukraine.
The artist has long supported Palestine and criticized Israel. Over the years, his support for causes such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has led to accusations of anti-Semitism. Waters has always denied these accusations.
In an interview with Glenn Greenwald last November, Mr. Waters said he had been “ licensed » by BMG and presented this separation as the result of pressure exerted by the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish non-profit organization. A BMG source told Variety that the company did not agree with Mr. Waters’ version of the facts, without providing its own explanation.
