Over 14,000 people have signed an online petition to have Metallica removed from this year’s Glastonbury line up. But why? Is the idea of ‘Enter Sandman’ ringing out across the festival fields really just too much for some to handle? Well maybe, but the actual reason why a petition has been launched to ban the rock giants is to do with one of frontman James Hetfield’s more questionable hobbies.

MetallicaMetallica are set to headline Glastonbury this year

When he’s not fronting Metallica, singer James Hetfield hunts bears, he’s also a member of America’s National Rifle Association and is set to narrate an eight-part TV series called 'The Hunt', documenting the killing of Kodiak brown bears in Alaska. Unsurprisingly, animal rights activists are outraged at the singer’s after work activities and have called for the band to be pulled from the festival.

One angry fan has set up an online petition entitled ‘remove Metallica from Glastonbury’, which has so far gained over 14,000 signatures. The petition reads, “Remove Metallica from the festival line up. Due to James Hetfield’s vile obsession with Bear Hunting.” Under the heading, why is this important? They write, “This is a cruel and abhorrent thing to do. Killing animals for food is one thing. But killing for so called sport is wrong.”

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Along with the petition a Facebook page has also been set up which has over 26,000 likes on the social networking site. The page writes that Hetfield’s support of big game hunting “is incompatible with Glastonbury Festivals ideals.” Speaking to the NME, the page organisers said the campaign was “not particularly against Metallica,” adding they “would do the same if any other band found itself in the same position.” Calling on Hetfield to change his position on hunting, they told the magazine that while they applauded the work Hetfield and the band had done for other causes, “this does not let them off the hook in this case. It is also a great opportunity for them to stand up for a cause and make a statement against big game hunting.”

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The band are yet to comment on the petition, but they are aware that not everybody is happy with their Glastonbury headline slot. Speaking to the Guardian, drummer Lars Ulrich said: “Jay Z came out and played 'Wonderwall', right? So maybe we gotta go out and do our rendition of 'Wonderwall'. We’ll start with 'Wonderwall' and we’ll take it from there.”

James HetfieldJames Hetfield's bear hunting has led to an online petition calling for the band to be banned from the festival

So what do you think, does what James Hetfield gets up to in his spare time mean his band should be denied the chance to headline Glastonbury? As abhorrent as hunting is, is Hetfield really the only Glastonbury performer whose personal life might not fit the festival’s ‘hippy ethics’? Trust us, he’s not. Assuming Metallica do not end up being banned from Glastonbury, the band will headline the festival on Saturday June 28th, straight after ‘hippy friendly' Jack White who assaulted the singer of the Von Bondies in 2003. Just saying.