{"id":590095,"date":"2026-04-17T16:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590095\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:53:08","slug":"roger-waters-calls-out-draiman-corgan-draiman-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590095\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Waters Calls Out Draiman + Corgan, Draiman Responds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roger Waters<\/a> has called out Disturbed<\/a>‘s David Draiman<\/a> in an open letter that he penned to Smashing Pumpkins<\/a> leader Billy Corgan<\/a> over Draiman’s recent appearance on Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within their discussion, the topic turned to Draiman’s active use of his platform to advocate on behalf of the Jewish people and his heritage and his past vocal opposition to former Pink Floyd<\/a> singer Roger Waters pro-Palestinian comments. During the discussion, Corgan attempted to broker a peace between the two musicians by having them talk, with Draiman sharing that he would be willing to do so though he thought Waters was beyond being reached.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Should Music Be Political? Billy Corgan Asks David Draiman<\/a><\/p>\n

In response, Waters addressed Draiman indirectly in his missive to Corgan, calling out the Disturbed singer as “a psychotic racist Nazi pig” and being critical of Corgan for giving him a platform. He also offered a definitive no to the idea of a sit down, adding, “Life\u2019s too short, he can inhabit his tiny corner of hell without the benefit of my love and truth.”<\/p>\n

What Roger Waters Said to Billy Corgan and David Draiman<\/p>\n

In response to Waters becoming a topic of discussion between Corgan and Draiman during The Magnificent Others podcast, Waters penned an open letter addressed to Corgan but mostly sharing his thoughts on Draiman.<\/p>\n

It read as follows:<\/p>\n

An open letter to @Billy:<\/p>\n

Dear Billy Corgan
How are you? It\u2019s been too long. @davidmdraiman Someone forwarded me this chap\u2019s appearance on your podcast. I\u2019d never heard of him. Anyway, it turns out he has heard of me. It seems he has a problem with me standing up for human rights, particularly the human rights of my brothers and sisters in Gaza who are being slaughtered in a genocide by the armed forces of the Nazi racist, pariah state of Israel. You, being the lovely fella you are gave this little piece of shit a chance to clarify or even modify his position. He did. He is a psychotic racist Nazi pig.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m told, Billy, he writes messages on bombs before the IDF drops them on civilians in Gaza. Enough said. I will continue to work with all my brothers and sisters all over the world in the movement to demand equal human rights for all human beings, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity or nationality. If you, my friend are wondering if I want a conversation with this obnoxious little prick? The answer is non merci Billy, life\u2019s too short, he can inhabit his tiny corner of hell without the benefit of my love and truth.
Love
R.<\/p>\n

PS. @Disturbed? Er? Yeah! Just a bit!<\/p>\n

What Did David Draiman Say in Response to Roger Waters?<\/p>\n

The Disturbed singer saw the open letter and then offered his own take on the X social media platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“And here I was open to dialogue, even with someone I so deeply disagree with,” said Draiman. “Honestly @rogerwaters, this is the reaction I unfortunately expected. It\u2019s disappointing, but predictable.”<\/p>\n

“Be brave Roger,” Draiman continued. “Blessed are the peacemakers, right? I\u2019m always willing to try. We must all continue to try. Even with you.”<\/p>\n

The Disturbed vocalist the reshared a past correspondence from the X social media platform with someone who had called him out over his signing of an IDF bomb that has generated plenty of backlash.<\/p>\n

In that posting he wrote:<\/p>\n

I’d write ‘FUCK HAMAS’ on every single piece of military equipment in existence if it meant actually eradicating the cancer that plagues both the Israeli AND Palestinian people.<\/p>\n

Palestinian children deserve better than a life where they are taught to hate from the day they are born and where their mother’s greatest pride is for their child to be martyred as a human shield in their genocidal war against the Jews.<\/p>\n

What Did David Draiman Initially Say on Billy Corgan’s Podcast?<\/p>\n

Within his appearance on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast<\/a>, the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict came up with the conversation eventually circling around to Roger Waters and his pro-Palestinian stance.<\/p>\n

Corgan angled his question about Waters to Draiman with a little bit of background to where it was coming from. “I\u2019ve worked a little bit with Roger, so I know him personally\u2026 I want to come at it from a slightly different angle because I\u2019m curious if you have any reflection on my observation,” said Corgan, before commenting, “My observation is \u2014 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a stretch to say that the defining moment in Roger\u2019s life is his father being killed in World War II. It\u2019s in The Wall; he\u2019s made more than one record about it. He might balk at the word \u2018trauma,\u2019 but it seems like that would be very traumatic if it happened to anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then added, “And a few years back, Roger was very critical of Radiohead for playing a gig in Israel. Since then, Roger\u2019s made some very strong statements against Israel, including to the point where he\u2019s now estranged from at least one of his bandmates because they don\u2019t agree with his position\u2026. Let\u2019s say the number [of Palestinians who\u2019ve died in the ongoing conflict with Israel] is the 70,000 or 75,000 that the Gaza Health Ministry claims\u2026 It makes sense to me that a man who grew up in the shadow of World War II, lost his daddy in a war, has really suffered the consequence of that pain, that he would be hypersensitive to a scenario like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Draiman stated, \u201cI agree\u2026[but] here\u2019s the thing, Billy: I grew up on Pink Floyd. I loved Pink Floyd. It was such a massive betrayal, not just to me, but Jews everywhere when he went in the direction that he did. And it wasn\u2019t just two years ago; he\u2019s been doing this for a long time. Roger has a penchant for dictators \u2014 the worst [people] on planet earth, Roger just cozies right up to them. He has no problem whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Corgan interjected that his attempt at peacemaking failed, Draiman continued, “Not with that one, dude. He\u2019s just such a hypocrite. He\u2019s not for human rights. He\u2019s for this weird dictator-driven socialist \u2014 I don\u2019t even understand what he\u2019s trying to stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if he would sit down and speak with Waters if the opportunity ever presented itself, the Disturbed vocalist shared, \u201cAbsolutely. You close off and that\u2019s the end of anything.\u201d When Corgan sought clarity on the comment, Draiman added, “I\u2019d have to punch him first, but yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Smashing Pumpkins singer said he thought Draiman was “a man of peace,” the Disturbed singer offered, “Listen, I\u2019d be willing to sit down and have a conversation with just about anybody \u2014 except someone that can no longer be reached. And I\u2019m very, very convinced that Roger Waters can no longer be reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disturbed’s David Draiman Guests on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others PodcastDavid Draiman vs. Roger Waters – A History<\/p>\n

This would not be the first time that Draiman has spoken on Waters, as he’s shared his disappointment with the former Pink Floyd singer on multiple occasions, mostly due to Waters’ anti-Israeli actions.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Draiman condemned Waters for his use of the Jewish Star of David<\/a> in an offensive manner during his concerts. For years, Waters’ set had included a large inflatable pig that hovered over the crowd with symbols of oppression and fascism on display, but in 2013 the Star of David had been added initiating some controversy.<\/p>\n

“Nothing excuses the usage of the Star of David (the symbol of the Jewish people as a whole, not Israel or its government) emblazoned on a flying pig\/zeppelin during his performances for “The Wall”. It is uncalled for, abhorrent and blatantly Anti-Semitic,” shared Draiman at the time.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Draiman called out Waters for his support of the BDS campaign against Israel<\/a>.\u00a0“Don’t get me wrong \u2014 I think that everybody can have an opinion, an\u00a0educated\u00a0opinion, criticizing any government on the face of the planet,” the vocalist shared. “At the end of the day, whether you agree with all of the policies of the current Israeli government or not, you can’t hold an entire nation and an entire people and an entire society liable.”<\/p>\n

He then proceeded to call out Waters for performing in Israel and making up incorrect stories about it and then incorrectly going on about how the crowd responded when he asked for peace.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Draiman was speaking to Linda Advocate<\/a>\u00a0when he suggested that things might not go well if he were ever to meet up with Waters. “I’d gladly serve whatever jail time and pay the bail necessary for whatever I could get done within a very limited period of time,” the Disturbed vocalist shared<\/a>. Within that chat, he shared his disdain over Waters’ antisemitism and his disappointment when attempts to engage him in conversation fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

On the subject of political expression, see some of the most political rock and metal bands below.<\/p>\n

16 of the Most Political Rock + Metal Bands<\/p>\n

Outspoken artists championing causes!<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Jordan Blum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roger Waters has called out Disturbed‘s David Draiman in an open letter that he penned to Smashing Pumpkins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,172740,216,3,1740],"class_list":{"0":"post-590095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-link-in-bio","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}