The year 2016 was a rough one for Philip Anselmo. Last January, Anselmo received massive backlash from the metal community after yelling “white power” and giving a Nazi salute onstage. Anselmo spoke about the issue when he stopped by our studio, elaborating on today’s pile-on internet culture.

During Dimebash 2016, an inebriated Anselmo was apparently being heckled after performing Pantera’s classic “Walk” with an all-star band. He also misheard a fan’s praise as an insult, ultimately driving him to respond to the perceived ugliness with an even greater display of ugliness. Shortly after the incident, Anselmo explained that he brought an inside joke about “white wine” onto the stage without any context for the audience, and that’s how the whole controversy erupted.

After fan backlash and criticism from fellow musicians, most notably Machine Head’s Robb Flynn, Anselmo’s name was tarnished like never before. After issuing a few apologies and laying low for most of 2016, he finally hit the media circuit again while promoting Superjoint’s new album, Caught Up in the Gears of Application.

“When I apologized, I meant it, as far as anyone I may have truly offended,” Anselmo told us. “But in this day and age, I’ve come way too far. My life is open, I’m open about everything … I think that there is this online community and then there’s the real world. Over this past year I’ve seen that for my very own eyes.”

Anselmo also spoke about those who feel like they know his true personality through a small amount of information consumed online. “Instantaneous everything — and that is where the internet is very interesting with Facebook and all this s—t where everyone has a platform, everyone is an expert, everyone is a f—ing mind reader, everyone knows everything about everybody because they can look at a couple pictures and ‘I know you from head to toe from the beginning of your birth. I know your every thought.’ It’s fake and it’s sociopathic,” said Anselmo.

Check out Philip Anselmo’s full take on the public’s response to his Dimebash incident in the clip above.

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