And yet it worked for him, that and his art and talent. Our culture in the US is all about networking and self-marketing, or at least we are told that is what we need to do, draw attention to ourselves. It is a ridiculous idea on the face, so maybe being a twat with an anteater (and my very dirty mind is like hey!) is embracing a similar idea while annihilating it as rational or sane behavior. Add to that the further context of his international celebrity and place in history, and the action becomes even more complex.

It is easier to think he didn't have any level of awareness, he was just a twat, but that is highly dismissive of the individual for a behavior you might not agree with. And your dislike should clue you in onto the importance of this action in demonstrating the falsity of so much human interaction.