Philip Anselmo Reveals He Was Molested During Childhood
Pantera legend Philip Anselmo has always been one of metal's most open and outspoken figures. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the singer discussed his controversial actions at Dimebash 2016, opening up on race, also revealing that he was molested as a youth.
After discussing the diversity of his upbringing in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Anselmo lifted the veil on a horrific part of his past for the first time. "This is s--t I've never f--king opened up about until now," the frontman began. "But when people constantly talk about being a victim or something, there are going to be certain points where I have to step back and go, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa.' Especially when people shout and scream about us living in a rape culture and men are this evil product."
"Guess who was molested his entire child-fucking-hood by numerous people, both men and women... Me." Rolling Stone noted that Anselmo's gaze had intensified before reiterating, "Me." Going on, the singer stated, "I've never told the world this, but I am now maybe because I'm almost 50 and I don't give a f--k anymore. But it happened. I never blamed the world for it like I'm seeing kids today do, putting everybody in one box. And the same thing goes for race and all this s--t."
Afterwards, Anselmo went on to respond to Vinnie Paul's comments about the Dimebash incident in which Vinnie Paul said Anselmo had tarnished Pantera's image. "Yeah, I saw that he said that, but anything out of that dude's mouth is ... ugh ... it seems sour," the singer mentioned, adding, "I don't have anything in common with that guy at all."
While they may not have much in common, Anselmo tell Loudwire certain qualities about Vinnie Paul that he admires (video below). Looking back on Pantera's past, one of the things the frontman described was, “While the rest of us were drunken buffoons, [Vinnie] had to drive, he had to settle at the end of the night, he had to do all of that type of work that a tour manager would have to do. He was always a business guy. Very, very, very smart businessman.”
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