After the documentary ‘The Dark Side of Roger Waters‘ premiered, Sharon Osbourne gave her opinion on the Talk regarding the allegations against Roger Waters by saying he should be in an ‘old people’s home.’
She said in response to antisemitic comments Roger allegedly made:
“He [Waters] must have really lost the plot and should really go and actually take his life and live in an old people’s home… That is where he belongs.”
The film was made by a London charity called the Campaign Against Antisemitism, and it was first shown on September 27 on the charity’s social media platforms. It featured allegations by producer Bob Ezrin and saxophonist Norbert Stachel, who worked closely with the rocker. Ezrin claimed that:
“Something like the last line of the couplet was ’cause Morry is a f*cking Jew’. It was my first inclination that there may be some antisemitism under the surface. Now Roger knew that I’m Jewish, so I didn’t know whether this was another one of those sort of button-poking things that he was doing just to see if I would react or whether he just did not even get how offensive that might be to a Jewish person.”
Stachel also recalled an incident where Waters allegedly made derogatory comments about Jewish food and mocked his family, including those who died in the Holocaust. Following these accusations, the singer released an official statement, explaining:
“I’ve worked closely for many years with many Jewish people, musicians, and others. If I have upset the two individuals who appear in the film, I’m sorry for that. 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.”
In the rest of his message, the musician also noted why he rejects the accusations by saying that the film distorts his views on Israel and Zionism. He believes the film unfairly considers criticism of Israel as automatically antisemitic and assumes that Zionism is a fundamental part of Jewish identity.
