When he's not busy fomenting hatred toward Israel, former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has the time to take on powerful social media companies and fight for other causes.
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At a support rally for imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange last week, Waters, 77, told the crowd he had rejected a lucrative request by Facebook to use the 1979 song "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" for an Instagram ad.
Waters said the offer was for "a huge, huge amount of money."
"[The request to use the song] arrived this morning, with an offer for a huge, huge amount of money," Waters revealed. "And the answer is, 'F–k you. No f– –in' way.'"
He added, "I only mention that because this is an insidious movement of them to take over absolutely everything. I will not be a party to this bulls–t, [Mark] Zuckerberg."
Waters said the letter sent by Facebook read in part: "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."
Waters said he didn't want to take part in anything that makes the company more powerful.
"And yet, they want to use it to make Facebook and Instagram more powerful than it already is," the British singer told the crowd. "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.'"
US authorities accuse Australian-born Assange, 49, of 18 counts relating to the release by WikiLeaks of vast troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables which they said had put lives in danger. The US is seeking his extradition from British custody.
Waters also directly criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, calling him a "little prick" and one of the most "powerful idiots in the world."
He added, "You think, how did this little prick, who started off going, 'She's pretty, we'll give her a 4 out of 5, she's ugly, we'll give her a 1.' How the f–k did he get any power in anything? And yet here he is; one of the most powerful idiots in the world."
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Instagram's marketing team did reach out to inquire about using the Pink Floyd song in an advertisement but that Zuckerberg was not involved in any way.
In April, Waters, an ardent anti-Israel activist and supporter of the BDS movement against the Jewish state, called to suspend Israeli soccer teams from FIFA, the international soccer governing body, and UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations.
In March, he called legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder to refuse to accept the Wolf Prize, because it is granted in Israel. He previously called on musicians like John Bon Jovi, Lana Del Rey, Robbie Williams, and Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke to not perform in Israel.
In 2019, the year Israel hosted the Eurovision contest, Waters and other European artists signed a letter calling for the song competition to be moved elsewhere, and called on Madonna, who was scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony, to cancel.
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