Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Says 'Israeli Lobby' Is Trying to 'Cancel' Him

Rogers Waters, the former leader of rock band Pink Floyd, spoke out against what he called "the Israeli lobby" during a concert Tuesday night in London.

"They are trying to cancel me," the singer told the crowd at the O2 arena.

Waters, 79, has frequently criticized Israel's government while also voicing his support of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which works to pressure Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories where Palestinians seek statehood.

The principal lyricist for the now-defunct Pink Floyd, whose hit albums include The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, Waters has also been accused of antisemitism by groups like the Central Council of Jews in Germany, a charge he denies.

Last month, Waters found himself under investigation by police in Germany after he wore a Nazi-style costume during a recent concert in Berlin. Those actions resulted in the U.S. State Department addressing the controversy on Tuesday by saying the Berlin show "contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust."

"The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people," the State Department said in a written statement, according to the Associated Press.

During Tuesday's concert, Waters said that people trying to "cancel" him "hurts."

"We've done 80 shows, and we've done nothing but share our love for people. That's why I'm so pissed off with this Israeli lobby b*******," he said. "Making up stuff because you've been told to by your masters from the Foreign Office in Tel Aviv."

The watchdog group StopAntisemitism addressed Waters' recent comments and performance costumes. In a statement, its executive director, Liora Rez, told Newsweek, "Once again, Roger Waters is showing his true colors by engaging in antisemitic Jewish power tropes when he referred to the 'Israeli lobby' trying to cancel him during his London concert last night. Though he tried to mask his antisemitism as anti-Zionism last night, in a recent interview he referred directly to the 'Jewish lobby' and called for an end to the Jewish state."

Rez continued, "StopAntisemitism named Waters 'Antisemite of the Week' for the first time back in 2019 when the BDS supporter called on artists to stop performing in Israel, and again last month after his grotesque performance in Berlin. Thankfully, German authorities are currently investigating Waters for incitement to hatred."

Newsweek reached out for comment to Waters' manager via an email to his company.

Images from the concert at the O2 arena, where he is scheduled to perform again on Wednesday, show that Waters again wore the costume that has been described as resembling the uniform worn by Nazi SS soldiers.

In videos posted on social media, Waters can be heard telling the crowd that the outfit was not an SS uniform. Instead, he described his attire as "theater" and "satire."

Waters also had words for British Member of Parliament Christian Wakeford, who had spoken out against Waters' concerts. He called the lawmaker a "moron," among other insults.

Waters was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd and took over as the group's de facto leader during the 1970s, its most commercially successful period. He left the band in 1985, and the remaining members carried on without him until they announced the end of Pink Floyd in 2015.

However, Waters reunited with Pink Floyd in 2005 for a one-off performance at the Live 8/Make Poverty History concert. The surviving members also recorded once again in 2022 for a single that raised money for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.