Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea was stopped at customs and forced to sign Metallica merchandise after a mix-up at an airport in Belarus over the weekend. Despite the fact that he tried to insist he wasn't in Metallica, he still had to go along with the customs officials' mistake.

FleaFlea looks nothing like Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo

Flea posted a shot of himself signing his name on some Metallica CDs, DVDs and posters on Instagram after he and the rest of Red Hot Chili Peppers failed to convince staff at a Belarus airport that they weren't the heavy metal band they were accused of being. Luckily, Flea didn't mind too much given that he's a Metallica superfan himself, but that must've been a weird day for the rockers nonetheless.

'We were called into customs officials office at an airport in Belarus and they asked us to sign a bunch of Metallica CDs and photos', he told his followers on Instagram. 'We tried to explain to them that we weren't Metallica but they insisted that we sign anyway. They had the power.'

He did, however, remind us of the time he joined Metallica in a rendition of 'Fight Fire With Fire' (from the latter's 1984 album 'Ride the Lightning') at a show in Los Angeles back in 2008. 'I love Metallica anyways but I'm no Robert Trujillo', he added.

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The odd thing was that Flea looks absolutely nothing like Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, or indeed any other member of the metal band for that matter. RHCP had been touring Europe last week and they were in Moscow for Park Live on Saturday (July 9th 2016). However, Metallica aren't even on tour right now so those customs guys don't even have the excuse of assuming Flea was part of the band because they'd heard they were coming to Europe.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will play Fuji Rock Festival, Lollapalooza and Leeds & Reading Festival this summer.