11:45 a.m. ET, September 25, 2022
Rock legend's shows scrapped after spat with Polish politician over Ukraine war
From CNN’s Jorge Engels in London, previous reporting from Sarah Diab and Claudia Rebaza
Roger Waters performs on September 20, in Sacramento, California.
(Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Concerts planned in Poland next year for rock legend and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters have been cancelled amid backlash to the musician’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Live Nation Poland, the concert’s promoter, confirmed the cancellation Saturday without giving a reason.
“A town councilor in Krakow, a Mr Łukasz Wantuch has threatened to hold a meeting asking the council to declare me 'Persona non grata' because of my public efforts to encourage all involved in the disastrous war in Ukraine, especially the governments of the USA and Russia, to work towards a negotiated peace, rather than escalate matters towards a bitter end that could be nuclear war and the end of all life on this planet,” Waters said in a statement on Facebook today.
Wantuch leveled his criticism in a Facebook post published Sept. 10.
“Roger Waters, an open supporter of Putin, wants to play at Tauron Arena in Krakow. On Wednesday we have a session of Cracow City Council and I will be speaking to the President and councilors to block this. Such an event would be a shame for our city. Let him sing in Moscow,” the town councilor wrote.
What started all this? Waters penned a controversial open letter in early September to Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, where he stated his opposition to the West sending weapons to Ukraine to aid the embattled country in its war against invading Russia.
Waters also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of doubling back on his 2019 election campaign promises and said, without offering proof, that “the forces of extreme nationalism that had lurked, malevolent, in the shadows, have, since then, ruled the Ukraine.”