SLAYER publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald has shot down suggestion that the short-term publicity created by Kendall Jenner being photographed wearing one of the group's t-shirts contributed in any meaningful way to the $10 million merchandise haul on the legendary thrash metal act's farewell tour.
"As this is SLAYER 's final tour, more fans likely want something to remember the experience, so more merch is sold, and this is a very extensive itinerary, even for SLAYER ," she told CNBC .
Ernie Gonzalez of Rick Sales Entertainment Group , which manages SLAYER told Pollstar that the SLAYER fashion phenomenon may have exceeded expectations.
"You're not supposed to see SLAYER shirts on Kardashians , or basketball players rocking SLAYER t-shirts as they walk into the arena on TV. That wasn't supposed to happen," he said. "If you said that 30 years ago, nobody could have fathomed that. The awesome thing is they never had to sacrifice any artistic integrity, never tried to tone themselves down to conform or meet the standards of what the music business feels is the best path to success."
Three years ago, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was asked by Buzzfeed Mexico to evaluate one of Hollywood's hottest fashion trends — celebrities wearing distressed METALLICA tees. Commenting on Kim Kardashian West — or " Kanye West in drag," as Hetfield called her — sporting a cleavage-exposing "Metal Up Your Ass" tee, Hetfield said: "It's obviously a little large for her, as there is more skin showing than I would let my daughter do. If she was around before 'Kill 'Em All' and bought that shirt, I'd be pretty impressed."
On a recent episode of Bravo 's "Watch What Happens Live" , "The Real Housewives Of Potomac" star Candiace Dillard was unable to name three METALLICA songs despite the fact that she was wearing an "... And Justice For All" t-shirt that was customized to look like a short dress.
After Kanye West was seen wearing a TESTAMENT t-shirt in 2016, the band's guitarist Alex Skolnick reacted negatively in an online post, writing: "Goodness gracious. This whole decrepit clan must have picked up a pile of old concert t-shirts (the same pile Kourtney K 's SLAYER shirt came from) which have somehow become a 'thing' in trendy fashion (who'd have thought?!!). Inconceivable that any of these pop-culture vultures know who the heck any of the bands are. My guess is he thinks it's a religious group (not the first time that's happened)."
