Gene Simmons Reportedly Banned From Fox News For Lewd Behavior, Bopping People On The Head
Within the last year, at least, it seems like Gene Simmons has mostly been preoccupied with trying to trademark things. At first, he just seemed to be trying for his spin on the rock’n’roll devil horns, which is also “I love you” in ASL. Then, in an interview with Ontario’s Windsor Star in August, it seemed like the KISS bassist had been secretly active in the trademarking game for a while, in that way some people obsessively open credit cards: He claimed to have the rights to the “money bag logo” and the term “motion pictures.” Simmons’ brand new book is called On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power, and one wonders if trademarking hacks are among the power moves presumably discussed within.
One of Simmons’ recommendations in On Power, according to a recent Forbes interview with Simmons, goes something along these lines: “Power and money is the ability to make your own decisions about your own happiness, ambitions and other issues, without worrying as much about repercussions.” Perhaps a mantra along these lines was running through his head when, after shooting a Fox & Friends segment about the book, Simmons reportedly burst into a staff meeting in Fox News’ New York City office, hiked up his shirt, made lewd remarks, and traipsed around the conference room “bopping” two Fox News staffers on the head with a copy of his book.
According to The Daily Beast’s report of the incident, Simmons shouted “Hey chicks, sue me!” after revealing his “chest and belly.” (It’s worth noting that, in the preceding interview, Simmons discussed Harvey Weinstein and claimed “Men are jackasses….I’m not validating it or defending it.”) He also reportedly made several jokes about Michael Jackson and pedophilia, somehow. The Bunny-Foo-Foo-esque book-bopping move, apparently, was an element in a joke comparing the staffers’ intelligence.
In any case, according to The Daily Beast, network executives have now permanently banned Simmons from Fox News and Fox Business Network. You can watch his final interview below; at the end, he does the weather.
This article originally appeared on Spin.