Roger Waters Rips 'Prick' James Hetfield Over Apolitical Stance

Roger Waters didn’t pull any punches when discussing Metallica frontman James Hetfield.

The Pink Floyd rocker was recently a guest on the Katie Halper Show podcast, where the topic of politics’ place in music was brought up. The host pointed to Hetfield’s recent comments during a Metallica show at the Sphere, where he declared: “Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bull—-, OK? We’re here to forget about all of the outside s—. Metallica's agenda is love, energy, and heavy music, baby!"

In response to those comments, Waters tore into Hetfield.

“Can we stop talking about this prick?” the Pink Floyd icon remarked. “I’m so bored with him. He’s just showing that he’s a complete prick. He's got an IQ of about three and why we're talking about him, I honestly don't know because he's a nobody and he'll always be. He may have a few hundred million dollars or whatever, but he's a prick and he's no musician. I heard them. I told you I heard them playing acoustic instruments and they couldn't. It was appalling.”

Roger Waters Scolds James Hetfield: 'Have Some Empathy'

Waters went on to note the importance of empathy in society, suggesting that Hetfield was never taught to care for others.

“Obviously I wish he had grown up with a mama or a dad or a friend or even a cousin or somebody in the family who taken him to one side when he was little,” he said. "It's a shame this prick didn't have somebody around him to explain that being kind is way more important than all that loud music and bouncing around and whatever. Being kind, have some empathy for your fellow human beings because we need that to spread through across the whole world."

Waters has been one of rock’s most outspoken supporters of Palestine. He has previously come under fire for his harsh criticism of Israel, and the imagery used in his concerts, which some have labeled antisemitic.