Former PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo has apologized for the apparent "white power" gesture he made onstage after his appearance at Dimebash last week. Anselmo performed the PANTERA classic "Walk" at the January 22 event at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California in honor of his late bandmate "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. As he left the stage, he made a Nazi-style salute. He appeared to say "white power" as he made the gesture, but he later claimed he was referring to drinking white wine as part of an "inside joke." Several notable musicians have since come out and criticized Anselmo for his actions, including MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn, who uploaded an eleven-minute video response to the incident in which he called Anselmo a "big bully" and described Philip's behavior as "fucking wrong." Now Anselmo has released a video message, admitting that he "deserves completely" the "heat" that he has been getting over his actions and saying that he is "thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offense to what [he] said." Anselmo's statement in full (see video below): "Philip H. Anselmo here, and I'm here to, basically, respond to all the heat I've been getting that I deserve completely. I was at the Dimebash and it was extremely late at night [and] there was heavy-duty talk between myself and those who love Dime. And heavy emotions were flowing, jokes were made backstage that transpired upon the stage, and it was ugly, it was uncalled for. And anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don't believe in any of that; I don't wanna be part of any group. I'm an individual and… "I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offense to what I said, because you should have taken offense to what I said. And I am so sorry, and I hope you just… Man, give me another chance to… Just give me another chance. I love all of you. And anyone who's met me, anyone who knows me knows that I love all of you. Bless you."
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