The Roger Waters & David Gilmour conflict got very personal
On Monday, it appeared that the strained friendship between the two former members of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, and David Gilmour, was beyond repair.
In a tweet, Gilmour’s wife, novelist, and lyricist Polly Samson charged Waters, “you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also, a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-syncing, misogynistic, sick-with-envy megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.”
After Waters left the band in 1985, Samson became one of the group’s principal lyricists.
The tweet was well-received by Gilmour, as platform users immediately observed. Later, he tweeted: “Every word indisputably true,” showing his support more overtly.
Every word demonstrably true https://t.co/KWk4I3bMTN
— David Gilmour (@davidgilmour) February 6, 2023
It’s unclear what specifically sparked the message. Still, it might have been an interview Roger Waters gave Berliner Zeitung, the German newspaper, in which he defended his boycott of Israel and said he stood by remarks comparing contemporary Israel to Nazi Germany for its treatment of Palestinians. He also accused Israel of genocide.
Waters, who left Pink Floyd almost 40 years ago, also claimed on his website that he is not antisemitic and that the “Israel lobby” is attempting to silence him through a “despicable smear campaign.”
A few hours later, Roger Waters’ team shared the following statement on Instagram: “Roger Waters is aware of the hateful and wildly false statements made against him on Twitter by Polly Samson, which he categorically denies. He is now getting positional advice.”
Samson’s attack appears to have been in response to a recent interview in which the notoriously outspoken Roger Waters defended earlier comments equating the State of Israel with the Nazis, supported Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and expressed sadness over the fact that his former bandmates had released a pro-Ukraine protest song under the name of Pink Floyd.
The public conflict between the two Floyd leads has been going on for more than 40 years; it probably began in the recording studio when they were at the height of their glory but got particularly vicious in the 1980s during disagreements about the artistic direction that resulted in Waters’ departure.
The band got technically dissolved and prevented from using the Pink Floyd name again after the bassist and co-lead vocalist sued his bandmates.
Although the lawsuit was resolved amicably in 1987, tensions persisted behind the scenes and in the media. A small break from the arguments occurred in 2005 when the band came back together to play a set at the Live 8 benefit concert in London’s Hyde Park.
