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Music rights company BMG is preparing to completely part ways with Roger Waters following controversial comments he made about Israel, Ukraine and the United States. Variety reports.
According to the publication, the Pink Floyd co-founder and the Germany-based company signed a publishing deal in 2016 and had plans to release a re-recorded version of the band’s 1973 album. dark side of the moon last year. However, the deal was abandoned after Thomas Coesfeld was hired as CEO on July 1, 2023, and the record was instead released by UK-based label Cooking Vinyl.
A BMG representative declined to comment. Rolling Stone.
The musician has also used his platform as a sounding board for political positions. In August 2022, he called President Joe Biden a “war criminal” during a CNN broadcast and claimed that he was “directly fueling the war in Ukraine.” The following month, Waters published an open letter to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, addressing the country’s Western source of weapons.
When speaking before the United Nations Security Council in February last year, the artist denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “illegal,” but also stated that it “was not unprovoked.” And he added: “That is why I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms. There it is, that’s out of the way.”
Waters has pointed out alleged conspiracies against her in the past, including in a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone. Waters said he believes his name is on a “kill list supported by the Ukrainian government,” and in the same conversation, the singer shifted blame for the ongoing war from Russia to NATO, suggesting that the organization essentially left Putin with nothing. no option but to invade Ukraine.
The artist has long been a supporter of Palestine and a critic of Israel, and over the years his support for causes such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has led to accusations that he is anti-Semitic. . Waters has always denied these allegations.
In an interview with Glenn Greenwald Last November, Waters said he had been “fired” from BMG and described the split as a result of pressure from the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish nonprofit organization. A BMG source said Variety that the company does not agree with Waters’ version of events.