well kurt cobain had serious issues. he was an ***.
James mainly hates axl because the tour that GN'R and metallica did together axl pulled his normal antics of going on too late and I believe the show that hetfield got burnt up gnr had to go on early and axl quit after about four or five songs since his voice was not functioning or something to that extent. I think axl is awesome but he is the opposite of proffesional and is very selfish but hey he's the last true rock star in my opinion so its alright. whereas james is very proffesional and he lost all respect for axl on that tour.
I believe kurt hated axl because of superficial reasons, kurt was self obsessed more with the image of antimaterialism and being underground and felt the need to bash GNR because nirvana was part of the 'underground'. which is completely stupid and I think fake poser hatred since according to kurt cobains ex he used to wear an appetite for destruction tee all the time. kurt was truly a prick and he does not have my sympathy for pulling the trigger the guy should not be glamorized. unfortunatley society has done just that. he's just as messed up as a guy like varg vikernes in my opinion.
I don't think axl really hates james although I could be wrong, I think axl doesn't really care about metallica at all, I doubt he is a fan of their music but he isnt much of a metal fan from what ive read from interviews so thats understandable.