Phil Anselmo Turns The Table On Allegations

(Metal Hammer) Phil Anselmo says being branded a racist says more about his critics than it does about himself. The former Pantera frontman has apologized for the hurt he caused following his 'white power' outburst and Nazi gesture at Dimebash in January - but later added it was "utterly ridiculous" that people thought he meant any harm.

Now he says people will always find something to be offended by if they "look long enough through a certain lens." He tells The Classic Metal Show: "If I truly, truly upset anyone with that gesture and those two words, then my apology is sincere. But then there's the flip-side where I get the feeling that if you look through a certain lens long enough and you're desperately trying to spot something, you're gonna eventually find it, no matter what it is.

"No matter how vague it may be, you're gonna find something. I was blatant and doing what I did on purpose, but with a sense of humor behind it. And anyone with a logical mind knows for a damn fact that my love extends to every person in this crazy world of all colors, creeds, kinds, shapes, sizes, sexual preference. You name it, I'm for you. I'm on your side."

Anselmo added: "Sometimes these certain people that do look through these lenses - and maybe this is just speculation, but perhaps - like they used to say on the schoolyard, 'It takes one to know one,' or maybe the fact that you're looking through this lens is kind of showing who you are as well." Listen to the full interview here.