Roger Waters Co-Plays as an SS Officer During Concert, Says He Condemns Antisemitism

Roger Waters
TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

After winning the legal battle to perform in Frankfurt as he was previously banned from the city due to allegations of antisemitism, Roger Waters has been making rounds online again for a controversial thing he did on stage.

According to the New York Post, the musician performed at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, seemingly wearing a Nazi SS officer costume and even compared the late journalist Abu Akleh to Anne Frank.

The outlet noted that the outfit has a crossed hammer detail which is similar to a fictional neo-Nazi organization featured in the movie "Pink Floyd: The Wall."

Despite the controversial performance, the 79-year-old singer said a court in Frankfurt has ruled that he's not an anti-Semite, referring to his previous legal battle.

"Just to be clear, I condemn antisemitism unreservedly," he added.

Roger Waters Controversial Performance

His performance in Berlin caused a lot of backlash from online users as he sang the track "Lay Down Jerusalem (If I Had Been God)" and even displayed the phrase "F*** the occupation" on screen.

In other visuals flashed on the enormous LED screen showed names of late public figures including George Floyd.

The most controversial moment of the evening was Anne Frank's visuals, the young Jewish girl who died during the Holocaust.

In addition, Abu Akleh was also included, the journalist covering for Al Jazeera who was shot last year on a Palestinian refugee camp.

Roger Waters Previously Called Out By Pink Floyd Members

Waters' Pink Floyd bandmates are completely against of his controversial views as some of its members previously called him out on social media for his actions.

According to the Jerusalem Post, David Gilmour's wife, Polly Samson, took to her official Twitter account earlier this year to slam the musician.

"You are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense," she wrote.

Her husband later shared the post, writing, "every word demonstrably true."

In other reports, Roger Waters won his legal battle last month after there were attempts to ban him from Frankfurt to perform due to his alleged antisemitism remarks.

The Guardian reported that the German city's administrative court gave him a go signal to perform at his concert, but they acknowledge that some parts of his show were "tasteless" and obviously features some symbolism inspired by the Nazis.

The court noted that the reason why they decided for him to perform was due to artistic freedom.

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Roger Waters, Pink Floyd, Controversy, Tour, Concert, Show, Performance, News, Music
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