Foo Fighters have been tapped to replace Pantera in the upcoming German festivals amid the latter's racism controversy. Fans, in response to this, rejoiced Phil Anselmo's "cancelation."
Consequence released a copy of Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals' statement earlier this week in which the German festivals' promoter removed Pantera from its lineup. The decision was reportedly made due to "intensive conversations with artists, our partners and you, the festival fans."
It did not detail the exact reason for the removal, but it happened after the 2016 incident of Phil Anselmo making a Nazi salute resurfaced.
Germany's Green Party's council members urged the promoters, Argo Konzerte GmbH, to cancel Pantera's appearances, per Stern. A spokesperson for the Greens, Réka Lörincz, explained that the decision was not about bashing the band or its music.
Instead, the organization saw Anselmo's recent apology statement as "very problematic" since it seemed to be more of a trivialization.
After the festivals formally removed the band, the representative expressed everyone's relief as not having Pantera prevented anti-Semitic, racist and right-wing extremist appearances.
Foo Fighters' official social media pages have since divulged the development by uploading a copy of the newly-revised poster of the festivals. The events will take place in Nürburgring and Nuremberg from June 2 to 4, and it will feature performances by MGK, Bring Me the Horizon, Rise Against, Limp Bizkit, and Kings of Leon, among others.
Most fans celebrated the decision, as well, festivals finally condemned Anselmo's "unacceptable" behavior. They also noted that the singer has a long history of being a racist.
One said, "Phil Anselmo is a racist, and he should be deplatformed. I really don't understand why this is so hard to grasp."
Phil Anselmo has a long history of racist behavior covered extensively in the media at the time. I'd love to see the coverage of the Pantera show cancelations reflect that instead of acting as if it was simply the one white power / white wine incident a few years back.
— Ben U. (@VinceNeilstein) January 25, 2023
Phil Anselmo is a huge racist, and no matter how many empty apologize he tries to make for standing onstage and supporting the Nazi salute and chanting "white power", he can't take it back. He's a racist loser and deserves to be shut up down!#PhilAnselmo #pantera
— Maximus Thunderbeard (@MaxThunderbeard) January 24, 2023
This is what validation feels like. For SIX FUCKING YEARS I screamed into the sky about Phil Anselmo's racist ways. "Pantera" has now been dropped from Euro fests because he's a goddamn nazi. Like, literally, screaming WHITE POWER & throwing nazi salutes. https://t.co/8cmSfB6c7R
— Johnny Firecloud (@JohnnyFirecloud) January 26, 2023
Phil Anselmo Defends Himself From Racism Accusations
Before the cancelation of Pantera's appearance, the frontman denied the allegations in 2016, even when he was recorded making a Nazi salute and showing support for white supremacy.
The incident happened during the band's appearance at the 2016 Dimebash in Hollywood. The festival served as a tribute to the band's late guitarist, Dimebag Darrell.
After its "Walk" performance, Anselmo reportedly made a "Sieg Heil" gesture while shouting, "White Power!"
Videos of the incident have since gone viral, and some of those resurfaced recently.
He initially refused to apologize, saying they were drunk that night.
"Some of y'all need to thicken up your skin," he said, per NME. "There's plenty of fuckers to pick on with a more realistic agenda. I f***ing love everyone, I f***ing loathe everyone, and that's that. No apologies from me."
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