Phil Anselmo has played down an apparent ‘white power’ gesture he made onstage after his appearance at Dimebash last week.
Anselmo performed Pantera classic Walk at the event in honour of his late bandmate Dimebag Darrell Abbott at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California, on January 22.
As he left the stage, he made a Nazi-style salute. He appears to say “white power” as he makes the gesture, but Anselmo has since claimed he was referring to drinking white wine as part of an “inside joke.”
Commenting on a YouTube video of the incident, Anselmo, posting under the username of his label HouseCore Records, says: “Ok folks, I’ll own this one, but dammit, I was joking, and the inside joke of the night was because we were drinking fucking white wine, hahaha – of all fucking things.
“Some of y’all need to thicken up your skin. There’s plenty of fuckers to pick on with a more realistic agenda. I fucking love everyone, I fucking loathe everyone, and that’s that. No apologies from me.”
Proceeds from the Dimebash event will go to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.