James Hetfield Warns Fans Against Falling for Fake Accounts

Imposter accounts are rampant throughout social media, and clearly, iconic musicians are among the many most prevalent targets. (Simply ask Mike Portnoy.) Sadly, it seems to be like James Hetfield is one more sufferer, and he’s adamantly cautioning followers to be cautious of such deceptions.

Yesterday (Jan. 14), the official Metallica Twitter account posted a triple-image assertion from the fiery frontman that begins with, “Papa Het would love you to learn this.” From there, Hetfield wrote:

There are folks on-line which have assumed my id, spreading misinformation, and have precipitated injury to different folks. There are imposters and predators on the market. That is out of my management, however it’s in your management who you select to attach with. Please watch out on socials and vet folks earlier than getting involved with them.

To be clear…I’m not on any social media types, Fb, Instagram, and so on. The one connection I’ve with social media is thru the official Metallica web site and official Metallica socials. If you’re following or speaking with somebody who you assume is or is portraying themselves as me…

It isn’t me.

I hope this helps those that have been or are getting deceived and are ashamed to speak about it.

With love and respect,
James ‘Papa Het’ Hetfield

You’ll be able to view the put up itself beneath:

Poignantly, many Metallica lovers replied to the put up with not solely basic assist but additionally particular requests for Hetfield to come back again to social media. As an example, one fan acknowledged, “We’d like to have you ever on instagram. Miss you. Come again to Brazil quickly!” whereas one other replied: “Come again to Instagram Papa Het we love you!!!!!!!”

Different customers supplied extra sarcastic responses (and understandably so). Specifically, somebody joked, “And right here I used to be pondering James and I have been assembly for drinks later tonight at Turtle Jack’s. Bummer.” Equally, one other follower requested: “So does this imply he didn’t want my social safety quantity for again stage Metallica passes?”

As for why Hetfield gave up his Instagram account within the first place, Blabbermouth’s transcription of his December 2016 chat with the Canadian Press provides some insights:

I bought sucked into the social media round… I used to be attempting to be hip, attempting to be cool. You already know, my youngsters are on Instagram [so I thought], “I wanna do this factor.” I simply needed to appear to be the cool dad to my youngsters. And I ended up being simply… It was this enormous time sucker, and that is all I used to be eager about. “Oh, hey, I am right here. I can take an image and put it on Instagram and get some hits,” or no matter, and attempting to get many followers… However there’s a good half to that — you recognize, there’s truly folks you possibly can meet and converse with and get to know, after which once you get to their city, you are [like], “Wow, hey, you are right here.” And also you make a buddy. However more often than not, it was simply sucking my time, and I simply began to neglect common life. It was residing within the cyber world, and it was not for me.

So – in case it must be reiterated – the subsequent time you see somebody suspiciously posing as Papa Het (or every other superstar), use fundamental judgment and logic to see via their scams.

One thing else it’s best to do is preserve an eye fixed out for Metallica’s new album, 72 Seasons, which is about to launch on April 14 through their very own label, Blackened Recordings. Oh, and make sure you try tickets for his or her upcoming “M72” World Tour, which kicks off on April 27 and runs via the tip of September 2024. You’ll be able to even buy single-day tickets!