RITA HANEY Says PHILIP ANSELMO's 'Pneumonia' Forced Him To Cancel 'Dimebash' Appearance

November 10, 2010

Artisan News Service conducted an interview with late PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's longtime girlfriend Rita Haney at last month's Dimebash 2010 event, which was held in honor of Dimebag at the world-famous Key Club on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. You can now watch the chat below.

On former PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo, whose "stupid actions," she had previously claimed, "led to" to Dimebag's murder:

Rita: "[Philip and I] ran into each other a couple of years ago at [the U.K.'s] Download [festival], and it was real emotional and it was touching. Time needed to go by to make sure... I don't know... Things neeed to adjust and stuff. But we've e-mailed each other a few times over the [last] couple of years. And it was actually on the table [for Anselmo to appear at this year's Dimebash], but he came down with pneumonia [and couldn't participate]. So I told him we're counting on him next year. [laughs]"

On whether she still harbors any resentment towards Philip regarding the way he acted in the years prior to Dimebag's murder:

Rita: "There's things, of course, I'm still angry at him about, but that was things with the band, you know — things that I know hurt Darrell and I had to be there to watch it; I resent him for those things. But there's a side of me that loves all of them as well, too. [Philip's] not to blame for what happened to Darrell, and I know that. It just takes time to heal. But I miss everybody and I don't wanna carry that burden around, you know?!"

On whether she thinks former PANTERA drummer and Dimebag's brother, Vinnie Paul Abbott, is still holding a grudge against Philip over the things Anselmo had said and done prior to Dimebag's murder:

Rita: "I know he is, and I'm sure when he sees this he probably won't speak to me either. [Laughs] It's a really very touchy thing."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).