The record company BMG is reportedly set to terminate its contract with former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters due to his controversial remarks about Israel, Ukraine and the United States, according to a report by Variety. BMG, a German company, signed Waters in 2016 and had plans to release his new version of Pink Floyd's iconic album, "Dark Side of the Moon," last year. However, CEO Thomas Kessler canceled the deal when he assumed his position in July of that year. The album was eventually released by the British record company Cooking Vinyl.
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Sources have now revealed to the American magazine that BMG is preparing to end its contract with the veteran musician. The record company has not yet responded to the statements made in Variety.
Over the past few years, Roger Waters has made various controversial statements and expressed his views on the Israel-Gaza conflict. In an interview on the online show "SYSTEM UPDATE" on October 7, he claimed that events during the Hamas attack and massacre were "completely blown out of proportion by the Israelis who invented stories about the decapitation of babies."
"We don't know if we will ever hear the truth about what happened," he added. "It's always difficult to know what really happened. They call it 'their twin towers disaster.' What the hell happened in the American twin towers disaster? Nobody really knows; there are a lot of holes in the story," he added, echoing antisemitic conspiracy theories.
When asked about Hamas committing war crimes, Waters responded: "There may have been isolated incidents. They published data about how many people were actually killed and who they were, and it seems that the first 400 were Israeli soldiers, which is not a war crime."
Addressing the allegations of antisemitism in his treatment of Israel, Waters responded: "That is the main difference between my stance and the Israeli government. I believe in equal human rights for all our brothers and sisters around the world, regardless of their origin, religion, or nationality. The Israeli government does not. There, in what they call the Holy Land, Jews have a completely different system of rights compared to everyone else, and that is a fundamental problem.
"That's why my message focuses on the question 'Do you believe in the idea of equality for all human beings or not?' because if you don't, you're a Nazi. But people say you can't call them Nazis," he continued. "These people consider themselves superior to others, which is why they call them animals. That's why they dehumanize them. That's why they commit murder against them every day. I'm sorry if I'm grinding my teeth, but it's the most terrible thing I've seen in my life, and I'm 80 years old," Waters said.
During the same interview with journalist and opinion writer Glenn Greenwald, Waters also discussed his dismissal from the record companies. Although news of his dismissal only emerged approximately 24 minutes into the conversation, Waters attributed it to "pro-Israel pressures" originating from the media conglomerate and publisher Bertelsmann, which operates the record company BMG. AThis conversation included accusations and strong language directed toward Israel.