Is Gene Simmons an asshole? That’s somewhat up for debate, although I’m sure our comments section will be happy to weigh in on the subject. But apparently, Simmons is okay with you thinking of him as an asshole. So much so that he made some really problematic comparisons about it. In a recent interview with podcast/YouTube series Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson (that was transcribed by Blabbermouth), Simmons said, "I would say there are some — could be a large number, could not — who think I'm an asshole. In fact, I named my second solo album 'Asshole', which, I thought, was akin to black people taking possession of the 'n' word. And fat people, overweight people, obese people, taking possession of that, so that you lessen the impact of that.”
If you aren’t black, and you catch yourself saying that something you’ve done is “just like when black people do this thing,” I think it’s okay to just realize what you just said, acknowledge it’s a bad idea to finish the sentence you started, and then just stop talking. Gene, people are called racial slurs for stereotypes that have unfairly been placed on them because of the race they were born into, you get called an asshole because you allegedly groped Ace Frehley’s wife and supported the George W. Bush administration. Those aren’t the same thing.
"I'm okay with being labeled or thought of as an asshole, because I know who I am," he continued. "And there are other people who think, 'You only do this for money.' And my response is — of course. Why am I not salt of the earth when almost all the jobs on the face of the planet are performed by people who don't like the job they have, and the only reason they're doing that is to be able to earn money to feed their families and put a roof over their head? Only for money. Nobody wants to dig ditches on a highway. The building we're in, somebody had to put up. They do that every day. They go to work, do the same thing every day, nine to five, five days a week. Join the union or not, and break their backs and never get rich, just to be able… 'That's the salt of the earth.' Why can't I be salt of the [earth]? The fact that I make more money? But I also give to philanthropy. And by the way, it's none of your fucking business who or what or where. I'm not trying to impress you or not. I know who I am. And maybe that's the best thing to do in life, is to just be comfortable in your own skin, 'cause not everybody likes Jesus either."
…what?
Simmons seems to be swinging wildly from topic to topic here, but he seems to almost be trying to prove that he deserves to be called an asshole. So, cool, Gene, I guess you’re an asshole. Congratulations?
