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Roger Waters might sink a $500 million Pink Floyd catalogue sale with his stupid political comments

Roger Waters seems to be doing his absolute best to not only piss off his fans with his asinine political comments but he could also be jeopardizing the rumoured sale of the Pink Floyd catalogue, something that will be worth in excess of US$500 million.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, he asserts the following:

  • Comments about Israel that some will see as antisemitic. (Jews in the US and UK bear responsibility for what’s happening in Israel because “they pay for everything.”)
  • All those well-documented war crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine? “Lies, lies, lies.”
  • It’s NATO’s fault that Russia invaded Ukraine.
  • Russian involvement in Syria is justified because “they were there at the invitation of the Syrian government.” True–but they were invited by Bashar Assad, one of the worst dictators on the planet.
  • Syrian rescue group White Helmets? “Fake.”
  • The use of chemical weapons in Syria was faked by Assad’s opponents.
  • The United States is “the most evil [country in the world] of all by a factor of at least 10 times.”
  • On the more sensible side, he’s not a fan of Donald Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

There’s more, too. A 12,000 word transcript can be found here.

The current This is Not a Drill tour features all kinds of visuals calling out various US presidents and UK prime ministers as war criminals. It was hard not to notice that there was nary a mention of Vladimir Putin and Ukraine. Odd, no?

You have to wonder if such attitudes will affect any business decisions surrounding the sale of the Pink Floyd catalogue. Speculation is that the longer Waters continues to spout off, the less value the catalogue will have. If that’s the case, you can imagine the fury of former bandmates David Gilmour and Nick Mason.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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