By Brian Ives
Former Pantera frontman Philip Anselmo recently made headlines and found himself in hot water with the heavy metal community after a video of him yelling out “White power!” following a performance surfaced on YouTube. He was performing at Dimebash, an annual tribute concert to his former Pantera bandmate, Dimebag Darrell; the show, which took place at Los Angeles’s Lucky Strike, also featured Dave Grohl, Robert Trujilio of Metallica and others. (Read KROQ host Nicole Alvarez’s account of the show here).
Anselmo recently posted a lengthy apology to his official website. The statement, in full, reads:
“To all this will concern,
Every citizen in this entire world has the unalienable right to live with dignity and respect without hate or oppression. And I mean this, with all of my crushed, yet, guilty heart.
It’s common knowledge that we can choose to either learn from our mistakes, or continue on a path of insensitivity and destruction.
I am utterly responsible for the mistakes I have made, and can only give you my word to no longer do them in the present, through ACTION, not just mere words.
My band mates are now experiencing the consequences of my behavior, and I now publicly apologize to them as well. Never in my entire lifetime would I drag them down with me, and I’ve privately suggested to them that they move on without me.
My biggest obstacle(s) are the over-indulging in the booze and blurting out spiteful, ignorant reductions of the human spirit itself. I will address these issues, head-on.
I’m repulsed by my own actions, and the self-loathing I’m going through right now is justified by the hurt I’ve caused.
I realize we live in a society where apologies are NOT accepted easily, yet long for a day when they can be, but I also understand if I’m shunned till I hit the dirt.
From the bottom of my heart, and with all sincerity, I once again am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.
With truth, love, hope & respect-
Philip H. Anselmo”
The metal community was quick to condemn Anselmo’s actions, with Scott Ian of Anthrax calling on Anselmo to donate funds to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Rob Flynn of Machine Head — who was at the event as well — posted a video blasting Anselmo’s actions.
Anselmo’s new apology comes a few days after he posted a video where he asked for forgiveness from fans. In it, Anselmo says of his actions, “I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone who took offense to what I said, because you should have taken offense to what I said. And I am so sorry. And I hope that you give me another chance to… just give me another chance.”
However, that apology came after another video where Anselmo said (via Blabbermouth) “Ok folks, I’ll own this one, but dammit, I was joking, and the ‘inside joke of the night’ was because we were drinking f—ing white wine, hahaha… Of all f—ing things. Some of y’all need to thicken up your skin. There’s plenty of f—ers to pick on with a more realistic agenda. I f—ing love everyone, I f—ing loathe everyone, and that’s that.” He concluded “No apologies from me.”
As a result of Anselmo’s actions, his band Down has been dropped from the lineup of a Dutch metal festival FortaRock.
His reference in his written message “My band mates are now experiencing the consequences of my behavior, and I now publicly apologize to them as well… I’ve privately suggested to them that they move on without me,” seems to indicate that he’s suggesting that they find a new frontman. The band have not made any statements as to their future plans.
Related: Drive-By Truckers, Lynyrd Skynyrd on the Confederate Flag’s Meaning
Anselmo refers to “over-indulging in the booze”; he has a history of addiction that he’s struggled with. He also has a history of being accused of racism, partially because Pantera had used Confederate flags in their imagery; one of Anselmo’s current projects, Superjoint Ritual, has also used the Rebel flag. However, he’s recently (presumably in a more sober state of mind) expressed regret about using that image, saying, “These days, I wouldn’t want anything to f—ing do with it,” adding, “You see a Confederate flag out there that says ‘Heritage, not hate.’ I’m not so sure I’m buying into that.”