Sharon Osbourne weighed in on the allegations that former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters is antisemitic. When asked if she thinks that Waters is an antisemite, she replied: “Is the Pope a Catholic?”
Osbourne appeared in a Thursday segment on TalkTV discussing the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s (CAA) recent documentary “The Dark Side of Roger Waters” that features two former associates of Waters alleging that the former Pink Floyd bassist has made antisemitic remarks. Osbourne, who is Jewish, said, “I know him [Waters]. I know his reputation that precedes him in our industry … he laughs, he’s always telling jokes about Jews, always making comments about money, the cliché old-time opinion.”
Osbourne then claimed that no one under the age of 40 would recognize Waters and proclaimed that Waters should “live in an old people’s home and leave the Jews alone.”
After TalkTV presenter Kevin O’Sullivan said that he has many Jewish friends “who believe wholeheartedly that Roger Waters is 100% a disgraceful antisemite,” Osbourne replied: “This has been going on for years.”
Journalist Afua Hagan later asked why Waters has “managed to get away with this for so long.” TalkTV broadcaster J.J. Anisiobi replied that “unfortunately antisemitism isn’t taken as seriously as other forms of racism.” Osbourne concurred, saying: “Nobody cares except Jews.”
Freelance journalist James J. Marlow posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “As someone who worked in two of the UK’s most famous studios from 1979-85 as a sound engineer and we had engineers working on the Wall album and their tour, Roger Waters had some seriously [sic] issues with ‘Jews’. So @MrsSOsbourne words are of no surprise at all.”
As someone who worked in two of the UK’s most famous studios from 1979-85 as a sound engineer and we had engineers working on the Wall album and their tour, Roger Waters had some seriously issues with “Jews”.
So @MrsSOsbourne words are of no surprise at all. https://t.co/wQLKdu2jY2
— James J. Marlow (@James_J_Marlow) October 2, 2023
The CAA documentary featured interviews from legendary producer Bob Ezrin, who co-produced Pink Floyd’s 1979 album “The Wall,” and Norbert Statchel, a former saxophonist for Waters. Ezrin alleged in the documentary that Waters once conjured up a ditty that referred to Pink Floyd’s agent Brian Morrison as a “f—ing Jew”; Statchel alleged that Waters mocked his grandmother, who died during the Holocaust, and that Waters once complained about “Jew food” while at a restaurant in Lebanon. The documentary also claimed to have obtained emails from Waters suggesting to his team that, for his 2010 tour, he use the words “dirty kyke” on his inflatable pig, though ultimately the idea was scrapped after Waters’ lighting director, who is Jewish, objected to the use of the word.
Waters responded to the allegations in the documentary in a statement on his website by accusing the CAA of “waging partisan political campaigns against critics of the state of Israel” and claimed that the emails obtained by CAA were taken out of context. “The offensive words I referenced in quotes in an email 13 years ago, were my brainstorming ideas on how to make the evils and horrors of fascism and extremism apparent and shocking to a generation that may not fully appreciate the ever-present threat,” Waters said. “They are not the manifestation of any underlying bigotry as the film suggests. Quite the opposite. I have been trying to expose the evils of fascism ever since learning of my father’s death fighting fascists in World War II.”
As for the allegations put forth by Ezrin and Statchel, Waters said he couldn’t remember what he said several years ago and admitted that he could be “mouthy and prone to irreverence.” “If I have upset the two individuals who appear in the film I’m sorry for that,” Waters said. “But I can say with certainty that I am not, and have never been, an antisemite – as anyone who really knows me will testify. I know the Jewish people to be a diverse, interesting, and complicated bunch, just like the rest of humanity. Many are allies in the fight for equality and justice, in Israel, Palestine and around the world.” He concluded his statement by calling the CAA documentary “a flimsy, unapologetic piece of propaganda that indiscriminately mixes things I’m alleged to have said or done at different times and in different contexts, in an effort to portray me as an antisemite, without any foundation in fact.”
The CAA responded to Waters’ statement with a post on X noting that Waters had replied “at the start of a two-day Jewish holy period when we cannot answer, having waited over three weeks since we invited him to reply to or dispute any of the allegations in our documentary.” Waters’ statement was published on Friday, when Sukkot started; Waters had claimed in the statement that the CAA had given him seven days to reply and he chose not to because he thought the questions were being asked in bad faith. He added that he decided to respond with his statement once the allegations became public.
“He can’t remember what he did or didn’t do,” the CAA wrote on X. “It just wasn’t memorable for him. But he says that if he did call his former agent a ‘f***ing Jew’, or mocked the grandparents of his Jewish saxophonist who were murdered in the Holocaust, or anything else that his former associates say he did, it was just ‘irreverence’ — Roger being ‘mouthy’. Nevertheless, he knows for certain that he never did anything antisemitic, and the idea of writing ‘Dirty k*ke’ on an inflatable pig above his concerts was actually a way of protecting Jews from fascists. In fact, some of his friends are Jewish, and the only problem Roger has with the Jews is that we don’t know how to recognise or define antisemitism, but he’s generously willing to correct us. The real victim here is Roger, pursued by a conspiracy run for the benefit of you-know-which-country.”
“We see you Roger,” the CAA added. “You’re as predictable as you are contemptible.”
There he is.
Replying at the start of a two-day Jewish holy period when we cannot answer, having waited over three weeks since we invited him to reply to or dispute any of the allegations in our documentary, @RogerWaters finally responds to the allegations.
Except he doesn’t.… https://t.co/Ce0n1akx16
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) October 1, 2023
