Roger Waters vs. David Gilmour: The 2018 Twitter Spat Over the Dark Side Prism Logo

In June 2018, the already tense relationship between Roger Waters and David Gilmour spilled onto Twitter. The fight started when Waters used the iconic Dark Side of the Moon prism logo on merchandise for his Us + Them tour. Gilmour’s camp fired a shot: his wife and manager Polly Samson tweeted that the logo was “the intellectual property of Pink Floyd” and that Waters was “the only former member who thinks it’s fine to use it for his solo tours.” She added: “You know who you are.”

Waters didn’t let it slide. He replied directly: “Polly, how you doing? I’m fine. As you know, I designed the prism. It’s not ‘IP of the Floyd’ any more than ‘Wish You Were Here’ is. It would be a bit like you telling me I can’t use my own name. Not good, Polly. Not good. And please don’t speak for Dave’s ‘intellectual contributions’ – we both know he doesn’t have any.” That last jab—about Gilmour’s contributions—was the real gut punch, reviving decades-old bad blood.

Gilmour answered a few hours later, leaning into the drama. He posted a screenshot of Waters’ tweet with the caption: “I don’t ‘speak’ for Roger Waters’ intellectual contributions and would never claim to … I stuck up for you @rogerwaters when you were accused of being antisemitic. This is a new low. You are vicious and spiteful and you have never given me any credit for my ‘intellectual contributions’ to Pink Floyd. Finally, Polly is not ‘speaking for me’—she is my wife and business partner.” Waters later deleted his tweet, but the exchange was already screenshotted everywhere. It’s a perfect snapshot of how two geniuses can make the same iconic art and still never agree on who owns it.