Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters proposed writing "Dirty K**e" on the ubiquitous inflatable pig that floats above the audience at his concerts, according to a documentary released on Wednesday titled "The Dark Side of Roger Waters." The documentary, prepared and released by the London-based Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) says the proposal came in an antisemitic email to his staff, in which he also proposed “bombing” audiences with confetti in the shape of swastikas, Stars of David, and dollar signs.
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“Hey Guys, Who’s going to make pig? Would it work to go out on the stuka truss? I imagine it black with crossed hammers logo as 1980, but covered with symbols from Good by blue sky,’crosses, stars of David ( that’s king david not david gilmour) crescent and star, dollar signs, shell oil shell, etc and epithets, ’my pig right or wrong’ ‘f–k you’ ‘no,f–k you’ ‘dirty k–e’ ‘follow the money’ ‘Scum?’ etc. Roger,” one of the emails allegedly sent by Waters, dated March 25, 2010, read.
The influential rock musician from the 1970s frequently employs antisemitic images and phrases during his concerts and in interviews and social media posts.
In May during a concert in Berlin, Waters dressed up in what looked like a Nazi uniform during the show, that included a swastika armband, according to photos taken by concert-goers on their cell phones. He also sparked controversy during the concert when the names Anne Frank and Shireen Abu Akleh were projected side by side, apparently drawing an equivalence between the teenage Holocaust victim and the Palestinian journalist who was accidentally shot dead while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank last year.
Waters, 80, insists that he is not an antisemite.
Roger Waters dressed as a Nazi onstage in Berlin
The documentary includes interviews with Norbert Statchel, Waters’ former saxophonist, and legendary music producer Bob Ezrin, who produced "The Wall."
In the documentary Statchel describes an incident in which Waters lost his temper over vegetarian food at a restaurant and demanded that waiters “Take away the Jew food.” He also said that Waters mocked Statchel’s grandmother who was murdered in the Holocaust, and that a colleague warned him not to react if he wanted to keep his job.
Ezrin recalls the time that Waters sung him an impromptu ditty about then agent Bryan Morrison, the last couplet of which ended with words to the effect of “Cos Morri is a f***ing Jew.”
“Roger Waters has repeatedly used his enormous platform to bait Jews, but he always claims that he is not antisemitic. We believed that there was further evidence out there to the contrary, and the release of "The Dark Side of Roger Waters" now puts the evidence we obtained in the hands of the public," Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said in a statement.
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The name of the slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is projected on stage at a Roger Waters concert
(Photo: Amir Bogen)
“It is hard to imagine a rockstar emblazoning the N-word above their concerts, but Mr Waters demanded that his crew do exactly that with the K-word. Not only that, but he seems to have spent time humiliating and harassing his Jewish staff.
“One cannot help but watch this film and wonder what kind of person uses their power to this effect. Is Roger Waters an antisemite? Now people can make up their own minds,” he also said.
Following Waters' concerts in Germany, the US State Department issued a statement saying that: "His performance contained particularly offensive images toward the Jewish people and belittled the Holocaust. The artist in question has a long record of using antisemitic displays to defame Jews."