Roger Waters reportedly dropped by BMG over Israel comments

Roger Waters has reportedly been dropped by publisher BMG over his comments about Israel, the Ukraine, and more. According to Variety, when new BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld took the reigns at German music company last summer, he nixed plans for the label to release Waters’ new version of Dark Side of the Moon (which came out via Cooking Vinyl) and has now cut ties with the former Pink Floyd member.

Waters has never been shy about sharing his political views, especially regarding Israel, which have been criticized as being anti semitic. His comments on the war in Ukraine to the United Nations Security Council, where he condemned war but said Russia’s invasion was “not unprovoked,” had concerts in Poland canceled, and his use of Nazi imagery in concerts — which Waters has long defended as being anti-fascist — had concerts in Frankfurt, Germany canceled before the court ruled they could go on.

Waters signed the deal with BMG in 2016, but in an interview with Glenn Greenwald last November, he mentioned being “fired” by BMG in a passing comment. There has been no official word from either party, but Variety’s source says it was Coesfeld who made the decision.

Bertelsmann (the B in BMG) did release a statement pledging “solidarity” with Israel following the October 7 Hamas attack on the country.

Read the full report on Variety.