Gene Simmons is known for his on-stage tongue antics (long before Miley was even born), for his band KISS’ absurd and recognizable makeup, and for some surprisingly conservative views for a guy who once seemed rebellious or radical.
And now he’s one of the latest powerful, famous men accused of sexual misconduct. He’s being sued by an anonymous woman.
He’s issued a statement and, to no one’s surprise, he’s denying the whole thing.
Gene Simmons is being sued by an anonymous woman who is a radio personality.
According to the lawsuit, details of which were published by the Orange County Register, Gene Simmons’s misconduct took place in a green room, while this woman was interviewing her.
The lawsuit alleges that Simmons reached over, grabbed the woman’s hand, and “forcefully placed it on his knee and held it on his knee.”
The woman apparently withdrew her hand immediately, but alleges that Simmons continued his “unwanted, unwarranted sexual advances,” reaching again for her hand.
Defendant Simmons turned standard interview questions into sexual innuendos, which made plaintiff Doe extremely uncomfortable
According to the documents, Gene Simmons grabbed her hand again, made a creepy noise, commented about how she must use lotion, and made some sort of gross sexual innuendo.
He apparently also flicked his finger against her throat, which is one of the weirdest things that we’ve read about since reading about Harvey Weinstein ejaculating into a plant.
Oh, and at a photo op after this interview from hell, Simmons allegedly grabbed her butt.
Awful.
Gene Simmons is speaking out against these allegations and against the lawsuit, writing on Facebook:
“Friends, I intend to defend myself against any alleged charges you may have been reading about in the media.”
Again, it is not surprising that he’s denying everything.
“For the record, I did not assault the person making these accusations in the manner alleged in the complaint or harm her in any way.”
He’s fighting the allegations in public but also gearing up to fight the actual lawsuit.
“I am conferring with my lawyers with the aim of vigorously countering these allegations.”
And he believes that he’ll be ultimately vindicated.
“And I look forward to my day in court where the evidence will prove my innocence.”
He may be right about the lawsuit’s outcome — sexual misconduct is often difficult or even impossible to prove in court.
Even while remaining anonymous, the woman suing him is taking a big financial risk.
Ultimately, we don’t know what, if any, effect this will have on Gene Simmons.
The more passionate a man’s fanbase, the less likely he is to face real consequences, even in the court of public opinion.
Just look at Johnny Depp — everyone knows what he did and has seen the evidence that his management knew what he’d done, but he still has a career and die-hard fans. Oh, and he’s starring in a Harry Potter movie and even JK Rowling is defending him.
Only time will tell if Gene Simmons’ remaining fans will abandon him.
Though, honestly, anyone who still likes the guy after he said that depressed people should just kill themselves is probably going to stick with him through anything.
We should point out that it’s always possible that other women could come forward.
It’s rare for a man to engage in this sort of behavior with one woman and not with others.
So let’s all keep our ears metaphorically to the ground for other women coming forward about disgusting interactions with Gene Simmons.
There are a lot of factors at play — some women are ashamed of not telling anyone, or blame themselves for the way that someone else treated them, or fear public reactions (especially from someone’s fans).
Only time (and the court) will tell how this pans out for Gene Simmons.
