Roger Waters Calls Thom Yorke "The Humiliating Small Beater"

Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke (Instagram @thomyorke)

JAKARTA - Former bassist and co-founder of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, has again criticized the Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke.

Waters openly referred to Yorke as "the shy little loser*. This criticism is not the first time. He has repeatedly criticized Yorke and Radiohead before.

Meanwhile, the founder of Pink Floyd is known as one of the supporters of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which has been vocal since 2011. He also strongly opposed Radiohead's decision to continue holding concerts in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2017.

Most recently, Waters hit Yorke again when appearing on The Katie Halper Show. Initially, he had asked the host not to discuss it, but then changed his mind.

"He (Thom Yorke) is a shy little loser. I don't think he's a nice friend," Waters said, quoted by NME, Tuesday, October 7.

Waters also added that he had written a lot of letters to Yorke. When asked if Yorke had ever replied, Waters replied, "Yes, he replied. I will put everything into my memoir. He became very, very cynical and tried to make fun of him."

Meanwhile, this feud came shortly after Yorke shared a long upload on social media on May 30, explaining his stance on conflict in the Middle East. The post comes after he clashed with a protester and suddenly left the stage during his solo concert last October.

Yorke explained the situation at the time: "Someone shouted at me from last year's darkness as I was picking up a guitar to sing the last song alone in front of 9,000 people in Melbourne. It was really not the best moment to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe that was going on in Gaza."

He added, "After that I was surprised that my 'silence' was somehow seen as involvement, and I was struggling to find the right way to respond to this and continue the rest of the show on the tour."

Furthermore, Yorke revealed the mental burden it suffered: "Silence, my efforts to show respect for all those who suffer and those who have died, and not to underestimate it in a few words, have allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill the void, and I regret giving them this opportunity. This is very burdensome to my mental health."

He also emphasized that his musical work should have become an indication that it is absolutely impossible to support any form of extremism or dehumanization of others.

Meanwhile, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien also voiced his views on the conflict between Palestine and Israel last year: "Like many of you, I have had October 7 events and what happened afterwards is too terrible to reveal in words.. whatever I have tried to write feels very inadequate. Ceasefire now. Return the hostages."