When the Stronger hitmaker was announced as a headliner earlier this year (15), the organisers faced a backlash over his booking and an online petition calling for him to be dropped from the bill attracted more than 130,000 signatures.

Eavis, who runs the festival in Somerset, England with her father Michael, has now revealed just how bad the criticism got, telling Britain's The Times newspaper she received threats of physical violence.

She says, "It was not a pleasant world we unwrapped. I had death threats and stuff. It was horrible. It was just crazy.

"The scrutiny is daily. Whatever we do is torn apart and analysed. It's hard to concentrate on the job because you can get easily distracted by the hoo-ha... It was getting out of control.

"We had all the American news channels saying they were going to come down. This incredible onslaught worldwide . It was quite upsetting because we were talking about something that was so exciting for the festival. Kanye West is an amazing force as a performer. For us, getting the biggest star in the world was an amazing coup."

The Foo Fighters and The Who will also headline at the festival, which runs from 24 to 28 June (15).