Berlin incitement probe and US antisemitism criticism over a Nazi-style stage costume in 2023
After Roger Waters wore a Nazi-style coat and red armband at two Berlin concerts in May 2023, Berlin police opened an incitement investigation and the US State Department said he had a long track record of using antisemitic tropes. Waters said the routine was a statement against fascism. Berlin prosecutors closed the case in May 2025, citing artistic freedom, Tagesspiegel reported.
Editorial timeline of public reporting, not a legal finding.
- Berlin police open an incitement investigation - AP reported that Berlin police opened an investigation on suspicion of incitement over the costume Waters wore at his May 17 and 18 concerts. Reuters said images showed him in a long black coat with red armbands, aiming an imitation machine gun at the audience. Berlin police investigate Roger Waters for possible incitement over concert outfit
- Waters says the routine was anti-fascist - Reuters reported that Waters said the questioned elements of his show were quite clearly a statement against fascism, injustice and bigotry, and that depicting an unhinged fascist demagogue had been part of his shows since The Wall. Roger Waters says Nazi outfit at Berlin concert was anti-fascist
- US State Department calls the Berlin show deeply offensive to Jewish people - Reuters reported that the US State Department said the Berlin concert contained imagery deeply offensive to Jewish people that minimized the Holocaust. AP reported the department also said Waters had a long track record of using antisemitic tropes. US calls Roger Waters performance in Berlin 'deeply offensive to Jewish people'
- Berlin prosecutors close the case - Tagesspiegel reported that Berlin prosecutors closed the incitement investigation two years after the concerts. A spokesperson said the show could be read as a provocative warning and that the presumption of innocence applied. Ermittlungen gegen Roger Waters eingestellt