Pantera have been removed from the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals in Nürburgring and Nürnberg, Germany due to frontman Phil Anselmo‘s infamous “white power” chant and Nazi salute at the 2016 Dimebash. The location of the events also played a role, considering the fact that Nürnberg infamously served as a site for Nazi rallies between 1933 and 1938.

The following statement was issued:

“Pantera will not be performing at Rock in the Park and Rock in the Ring 2023, as announced. In the last few weeks, we have had many intensive conversations with artists, our partners and you, the festival fans, we have continued to deal with the criticism together and decided to remove the band from the program.”

According to Blabbermouth, the festivals were also called out by the German Green Party, who said Anselmo “repeatedly and deliberately made Nazi gestures and yelled racist slogans.” Réka Lörincz, the spokeswoman for the Greens against racism and right-wing extremism, also added that “the former Nazi party premises” were “being deliberately misused for the staging and reproduction of racist and inhuman ideology.”