US State Department Issues Statement On Roger Waters' Antisemitism

Pink Floyd frontman and the guy who puts the "Crazy" in "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," Roger Waters, is the subject of a statement from the US State Department decrying his repeated instances of antisemitism.

He says he's not antisemitic though.

He just must be so not antisemitic that the State Department paradoxically put out a statement about his antisemitism.

Over the years, Waters has repeatedly made antisemitic remarks. Most recently, he came under fire for a May 17 performance in Berlin. During that show, he appeared to dress as a Nazi SS officer.

This caught the attention of many people including US special envoy to combat antisemitism,
Deborah Lipstadt. The day after Waters' show in Berlin she tweeted a condemnation of his "Holocaust distortion."

On Tuesday, the State Department spoke about Waters for the first time.

It happened at a news briefing during which a question about the administration's stance on Waters' "theatrics" during the Monday State Department press briefing.

“Special Envoy Lipstadt’s quote-tweet speaks for itself,” the department said in a written statement. “The concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust.

“The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”

This statement was not attributed to any person within the State Department.

Waters has been an outspoken critic of US Foreign policy and recently spoke at UN Security Council after being invited by Russia.

Following the Berlin concert, police revealed they were investigating whether Waters was guilty of incitement due to his costume.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.