The glitz and glamour of Dancing with the Stars “Hair Metal Night” were overshadowed by a series of cringe-worthy comments from a somewhat unexpected source: legendary KISS bassist Gene Simmons.
Serving as a guest judge on the popular dance competition show, the 75-year-old rocker found himself at the center of a social media firestorm after making what many viewers deemed were “creepy” and “inappropriate” remarks about the female contestants.
It all started when Simmons laid into Family Matters star Reginald VelJohnson, giving him a measly score of 5 out of 10 for his cha-cha routine set to Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.” The studio audience erupted in boos, clearly displeased with Simmons’ harsh assessment of the fan-favorite performer.
But Simmons’ comments about the show’s female dancers raised eyebrows and elicited a torrent of outrage on social media. After retired NFL player Danny Amendola and pro partner Witney Carson finished their Paso Doble to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” Simmons leered, “This is a brand new experience for me, and it’s difficult to look at you and to figure out which one is more hot, hot, hot.”
He then turned his attention to the 24-year-old actress Chandler Kinney, telling her and her partner Brandon Armstrong, “Chandler, you’ve fogged up my glasses. I don’t know what to tell you. You move me, not just with your gyrations and so on, but your beautiful face and how you were into the emotion of it.”
Commenters on X were quick to pounce, with one user describing Simmons’ remarks as having “the energy of the gross uncle who corners you at the reunion.” Another bluntly stated, “Gene Simmons is seriously sucking all the energy out of the ballroom with his creepy comments about the female dancers.”
This isn’t Simmons’s first time facing backlash for his controversial views on women. In 2017, the self-proclaimed “Demon of KISS” drew ire for a passage in his book “On Power,” in which he wrote that women can only achieve success by “leveraging their sexuality.”
“Women have a choice,” Simmons said in an interview. “They can dress in potato sacks, [but] as soon as they pretty themselves up with lipstick, lift and separate them, and point them in our general direction, they will get a response. Guys are jackasses — we will buy them mansions and houses . . . all because of sex.”
Not surprisingly, these comments only served to cement further Simmons’ reputation as a boorish misogynist – a perception that was only exacerbated by his recent antics on Dancing with the Stars.
While Simmons has yet to address the uproar directly, his DWTS co-stars have weighed in, with Kinney herself offering a measured response. “Brandon has more feelings than I,” the Pretty Little Liars actress told Us Weekly, noting that her only reaction was a simple “LOL.”
Her partner, Armstrong, was slightly more blunt in his assessment, admitting, “I said, ‘Hold up now.’ I have two little sisters. I heard it. I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait.'”
As the backlash continues to reverberate, questions linger about whether Simmons’ divisive commentary will have any long-term impact on his public image or his future involvement with the show. After all, KISS is currently on their “End of the Road” tour, which the band has billed as their final go-round. Perhaps it’s time for the famously outspoken “Demon of KISS” to hang up his platform boots and retreat from the spotlight for good.
One thing is sure: Gene Simmons’ brief stint as a Dancing with the Stars guest judge has left an indelible mark – and not in a good way. His “creepy” remarks have only served to underscore the growing intolerance for the kind of unapologetic misogyny that was once all too prevalent in the music industry. The times, it seems, are changing – and the “Demon” may soon find himself on the wrong side of history.