Roger Waters found himself explaining his behavior yet again in the midst of the debate. Following the outcry over his comments about the Israeli government and stage props in Berlin, the musician spoke with Double Down News, where he addressed the accusations leveled against him. The former Pink Floyd vocalist, who had previously addressed the subject on Twitter, opted to explain his costume choice once more and put an end to what he dubbed ‘false news.
‘ The artist says in the video posted by DDN: “I’ve been doing this for 40 years – 40 years.” I’ve done sections of that performance practically every year between 1980 and now. Why is it now? Why are people suddenly picking up and saying, ‘He’s wearing a copy of a Nazi outfit on stage!’ ‘He clearly glorifies the Third Reich and Nazism.’ ‘He’s doing it as part of his whole mentality, which is that he despises Jews.’ Everything in the Western press says, ‘Roger orders anti-sema, glorifying Nazism and donning a thing.'” He continued, infuriated:
“It defies belief!” Don’t misunderstand me. I may be shouting, and I may appear forceful, but I am still very angry. I can’t believe they’re attempting to do this to me. I mean, you can tell by the tone of my voice that I’m irritated beyond belief to be called these names. They’re really, deeply, deeply offensive not only to me, but to my entire family, especially my mother and father.” Alex Skolnick, who has openly expressed his opposition to Waters’ political views, defended the stage play on Twitter shortly after the news broke:
“I’m loathe to defend RW these days, but the fact is that this is a segment of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ that critiques fascism, works in context, has been performed for decades without incident, and the album was co-produced by someone my family might refer to as a ‘nice Jewish boy,’ Bob Ezrin…” Roger Waters’ full comment is available in the video below.