Campaigners target Metallica’s Glastonbury appearance
Momentum is gathering behind a campaign to get Metallica kicked out of their Glastonbury appearance later this month – because the band's frontman is a keen bear-hunter.
The Facebook page 'Remove Metallica from GlastonburyFestival for their support of Bear Hunting' has nearly doubled its members in the last 24 hours.
Nearly 22,000 people have now 'liked' the page, which states that James Hetfield's enthusiasm for hunting is "incompatible with Glastonbury Festival ideals".
Hetfield will boost his status as a champion for the sport when he narrates a History Channel TV documentary series about the pursuit of Kodiak brown bears in Alaska later this year.
He is a prominent member of the National Rifle Association and has previously stated: "I love my guns. I want to be able to protect my family."
The average hunt for Kodiak bears takes ten days. Hunters show their respect for the 12-foot tall animals, which weigh 1,500lb, by doing their best to eliminate them.
"Honouring the animal is paramount and taught to all hunters who come to the island," the programme's producers explained in a press release.
"Hunters have an ethical and legal responsibility to strive for clean kills that is taken very seriously. There are pages of stringent regulations they must follow that ensure respect for the animal and the land."
An open group called 'Keep Metallica in the Glastonbury Festival for their support of Hunting' had 45 members at the time of writing.
"Some people 'get it' when it comes to not contributing to needless pain, suffering and violence, and some people don't," the animal welfare organisation Peta said in a statement.
"James Hetfield has a compassion deficit. Animals are easy victims, and people who use high-powered weaponry to interrupt their lives are weak people who get a thrill from killing sitting ducks or, in this case, sitting bears."
One commenter on the Facebook page, responding to a post by its organiser about trolling from Metallica fans, wrote: "Please don't see this as a representation of the metal community, we're mostly good people spoiled by a few morons."
