Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters speaks during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, July 1, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

A judge in the United Kingdom ruled on Tuesday that Pink Floyd co-founder and former lead singer Roger Waters defamed a Jewish British film producer and investigative journalist.

The High Court in London rejected Waters’ argument that his assertions targeting John Ware were his honest opinions about Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip and not a statement of fact. Justice Jennifer Eady ruled that Waters made inflammatory statements that he tried to pass as fact, making them defamatory. Eady’s ruling reportedly means the defense will have to settle or the lawsuit will advance to trial.

“The statements are defamatory of the claimant at common law,” Eady wrote in her ruling. “Although I would accept that the first defendant’s reference to a ‘genocide’ expressed his opinion as to what was happening as a result of the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza (to which he had already referred), in stating that the claimant positively supported that ‘genocide,’ I find he was making a statement of fact.”

Ware, who produced and presented the documentary “The Dark Side of Roger Waters,” sued the singer and the Qatar-based Al Jazeera media network for defamation. He filed the lawsuit after Rogers claimed that Ware was a “lying, conniving Zionist mouthpiece” and accused him of “cheerleading the genocide of Palestinians” during an interview on the Al Jazeera show “The Stream.” Rogers also described Ware as a “pro-Zionist, pro-genocider.”

“The Dark Side of Roger Waters” highlighted various incidents in which the musician displayed antisemitic behavior toward not only individual Jewish people but also the Jewish community at large, including in previously unrevealed e-mails. It featured several interviews with people close to Waters, including his saxophonist Norbert Statchel and Bob Ezrin, the producer of Pink Floyd’s album “The Wall.”

The documentary was released in October 2023 on YouTube by the UK-based advocacy group Campaign Against Antisemitism. Waters previously criticized the film in a lengthy statement on his website. He called it “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.” In the same statement he denied being an antisemite, echoing a claim he has made several times throughout his career.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism commented on Eady’s ruling in a released statement.

“We welcome this judgment on the meaning of Roger Waters’ nonsense rant following John Ware’s production of our documentary, “The Dark Side of Roger Waters,” exposing Mr. Waters’ history of inflammatory conduct towards Jewish people,” the statement read.

“Those who claim that someone alleging antisemitism is just a ‘cheerleader for genocide’ are just spouting a modernized version of the trope that those who allege antisemitism are merely trying to silence criticism of Israel,” the spokesperson added. “[Former leader of the British Labour Party] Jeremy Corbyn tried it, and it doesn’t hold water. It’s a line long used by people like Mr. Waters, and it is high time that he faces repercussions for his big mouth and long history of Jew baiting.”

Rogers has been regularly accused of antisemitism, including by his former bandmate David Gilmour and Polly Samson, a lyricist for Pink Floyd and Gilmour’s wife. He is an avid supporter of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and has compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany.

Rogers has also called Israel “extremely evil” and promoted antisemitic tropes about Jewish power. He defended Hamas for orchestrating the deadly massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and claimed there is “no evidence” that the terrorists sexually assaulted their victims, despite widespread evidence proving systematic sexual violence, including testimonies from former hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

The musician and anti-Israel activist has performed on stage wearing a swastika-like badge, used sets that included giant inflatable pigs emblazoned with a Star of David, and featured inappropriate Holocaust-related imagery in his shows.