Metallica's James Hetfield has slammed Kendall and Kylie Jenner's T-shirt line as "disrespectful".

Metallica's James Hetfield

Metallica's James Hetfield

The 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' sisters recently launched a controversial clothing range, which saw their portraits superimposed over the faces of musicians including the heavy metal band, the late Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur, and the group's lead singer thinks the duo went ahead with the creation because they thought they were untouchable, much to his dissatisfaction.

Speaking about the 21-year-old model and her 19-year-old sister's now-pulled collection, the musician told ET Canada: "I guess what they were thinking is, 'We can do whatever we want'. To me it's disrespectful."

One item in the collection featured Metallica's cover album for their 1983 album 'Kill Em All', which was edited with a photograph of the Kylie Cosmetics founder, the number of likes she had received on a social media post, and a caption that referenced an entirely different musician - John Mayer.

And James has hinted the merchandise has ruined the reputation they have spent "36 years" working hard to build, as well as the "close connection" they have struck up with their fans.

He explained: "We've spent 36 years working, doing our best, to keep a really close connection with people [and] make every note count.

"And someone just throws something up over something that we feel - not that it's sacred or anything - but show some respect."

Following a huge backlash over the $125 garments, Kendall and Kylie pulled the collection from sale last month and apologised for causing offence.

They said: "These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologise to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists.

"We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in any way.

"The tee shirts have been pulled from retail and all images have been removed. We will use this as an opportunity to learn from these mistakes and again, we are very sorry."

Notorious B.I.G.'s mother, Voletta Wallace, previously slammed the sisters as "disgusting" and accused them of "disrespecting" her and the family of the late rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace.

She wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the shirt with an X over it: "I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this.

"The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me. I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my Son Christopher to sell a t-shirt. This is disrespectful, disgusting, and exploitation at its worst!!!" (sic)"

And Sharon Osbourne, also hit out at Kendall and Kylie after they featured her husband Ozzy Osbourne on one of the t-shirts.

She tweeted: "Girls, you haven't earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know.lip gloss."

Tagged in