The principal songwriter for Pink Floyd has told a press event that there was “no f***king way” that he would allow social media giant Facebook to use his iconic song “Another Brick in the Wall”.
Famed musician Roger Waters, who is also well-known for his outspoken political views, revealed that Facebook had written to him to ask to use the 1979 song for an Instagram ad.
Mark Zuckerberg personally asked Roger Waters for permission to use "Another Brick in the Wall" in an Instagram marketing campaign. This was Roger's response. pic.twitter.com/qsQZo1iWVJ
— AlexDeLarge (@IWasCuredOK) June 14, 2021
Speaking at a press event called to raise support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Waters read from a letter that he says came from Facebook. “We want to thank you for considering this project,” he read. “We feel that the core sentiment of this song is still so prevalent and so necessary today, which speaks to how timeless the work is.”
“It arrived this morning, with an offer for a huge, huge amount of money,” Waters said. “And the answer is, ‘F**k You. No f**kin’ way.’”
“I only mention that because this is an insidious movement of them to take over absolutely everything,” he added. “I will not be a party to this bullshit, [Mark] Zuckerberg.”
“And yet, they want to use it to make Facebook and Instagram more powerful than it already is,” the singer and songwriter said, “so that it can continue to censor all of us in this room and prevent this story about Julian Assange getting out into the general public so the general public can go, ‘What? No. No More.’”
Waters said Mark Zuckerberg was “one of the most powerful idiots in the world.”
Journalist Glenn Greenwald said that Waters should be “in charge of anti-trust law in the US” – a reference to laws used in the United States to break up giant corporations which establish monopolies and inhibit competition .
Put Roger Waters in charge of anti-trust law in the US. https://t.co/IXWt9pZTXF
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 14, 2021
Facebook did not respond to requests for comments from the media.