Metallica’s James Hetfield has made a subtle jab at “some other entertainers” who use their time on stage “to influence you with their bullshit”.
The heavy metal icon made the comments while on stage with Metallica recently as part of their ongoing residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, which kicked off earlier this month and will run through to early 2027.
Midway through their set on Saturday (October 10), Hetfield thanked the crowd for potentially travelling far and wide to see their show, and reassured them that they were wanting to create a sense of escape from the world’s issues – not lecture them with their own “bullshit” agendas.
“Unless you live in Vegas, you’ve come a long way to spend some time with Metallica,” he said. “We’re grateful for that — your travels, the money you spend, the time it took, thanks for coming to celebrate with us.”
“And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, OK,” he added. “No bullshit. We’re here to forget about all the outside shit, OK? Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!”
Metallica frontman James Hetfield took a swipe at artists who use their concerts to lecture audiences about politics during the band's Las Vegas residency.
In what could easily be seen as a dig at the likes of Macklemore, Hetfield told the crowd:
"Unless you live in Vegas,… pic.twitter.com/ImZyOgFeuJ
Although the thrash metal icon didn’t mention any names with his comments, some fans have suggested that it could be a nod to Macklemore, who was dropped as a support act for Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop’ tour after making a speech calling for a “free Palestine”.
After making his comments on-stage, Robert Kraft – who owns the Gillette Stadium and is also owner of the New England Patriots – said that he found Macklemore’s speech “deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”. Following more disapproval from the likes of Pink and the Israeli American Council, the rapper was removed from the tour.
Since then, countless big names including Greta Thunberg, Massive Attack, Roger Waters, Dropkick Murphys, Amelia Dimoldenberg, Billy Bragg and Hayley Williams have shown their support for Macklemore, and Ed Sheeran’s band and other tour support acts have pulled out in solidarity with the rapper. Ed Sheeran spoke out about the situation too, calling the “suffering and pain caused on both sides” as a “tragedy”.
Since then, Macklemore has since donated his entire $1million earnings from the tour to six organisations supporting Palestinians, and announced a ‘Free Palestine Tour’, while Sheeran’s scheduled gigs at the Gillette Stadium were cancelled due to “severe weather warnings” in the area.
Thank you !!! pic.twitter.com/p6TALGND0I
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) October 12, 2026
Now I know why I've always liked RATM and hated Metallica pic.twitter.com/LBC4qkI5D2
— THE LEFT LEANING PATRIOT (@PollsCda) October 12, 2026
Metallica habla solo de música como debería ser siempre 🤘 pic.twitter.com/usnLIhh8lg
— Javier Rivas 🇲🇽🦁 (@JavierRivasMx) October 13, 2026
Metallica: no estamos aquí como otros artistas, para influenciarlos con sus tonterías. No que fuéramos banda de rock.
Hayley Williams: pic.twitter.com/BB80qZf4FS
— Just Sarahausen 🏳️⚧️ (@CrapBagW) October 13, 2026
Hetfield’s comments, some fans suggest, could also be in response to Tom Morello continuing to use his platform to speak out on political issues – recently enlisting Jack Black, Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and more for the inaugural edition of his Power To The People festival.
Described as a festival to “bring together artists, fans, activists, organisations and community leaders for an unforgettable day celebrating the power of music and collective action to inspire change”, a portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales (plus 100 per cent of the net proceeds from VIP tickets) were donated to VoteRiders and HeadCount.
Others online have speculated that the on stage comments from Hetfield could allude to Hayley Williams, and how the Paramore singer has been saying ‘Fuck ICE’ – referring to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department – and also shouting “Free motherfucking Palestine” at her recent live shows.
Metallica have been reluctant to share their political stance for years now, and back in 2017 Hetfield said that he wanted to keep his thoughts about Donald Trump to himself, arguing that politics “separates” people.
In 2020, Metallica also spoke about how they wanted their music to inspire unity at a time when tensions are high due to various social conflicts, and last year the band forced the US government to withdraw a social media video that made use of ‘Enter Sandman’ without authorisation.
Their Las Vegas shows come amid a busy few years of touring, with them being on the road frequently for their mammoth ‘M72’ tour, celebrating the release of their latest album ‘72 Seasons’.