A woman who chooses to remain anonymous has filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Gene Simmons Friday.
The on-air personality for a local rock station claims the Kiss bassist made several sexual advances to her when she interviewed him at San Bernadino, California’s Rock & Brews restaurant in November. Simmons allegedly aggressively grabbed the woman’s hand and put it on his knee. She withdrew her hand, but Simmons kept reaching for her hand. The woman also alleges that Simmons turned basic interview questions into sexual innuendos.
When the unnamed women and Simmons posed for promotional photos after the interview, Simmons reportedly reached down her buttocks and touched it.
The lawsuit demands a “money judgment for mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment” and punitive damages.
“My client is embarrassed and humiliated by the incident with Mr. Simmons,” the woman’s attorney, Willie W. Williams said in a telephone interview. “She filed suit because she wanted to make a strong statement that this behavior is unacceptable and she wants to see an end to this type of behavior.”
Simmons denies the accusations against him and said he plans to defend himself to the fullest.
“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 said. “I am conferring with my lawyers with the aim of vigorously countering these allegations. And, I look forward to my day in court where the evidence will prove my innocence.”
Just weeks before the lawsuit was filed, Fox News banned Simmons for life because he was behaving inappropriately in their offices while he promoted his books.
This isn’t the first time Simmons has been accused of being inappropriate during an interview. Just a day after the lawsuit against Simmons was filed, Kathy, McCabe, a reporter for Australia’s Daily Telegraph, admitted that she once walked out of an interview with the rockstar because of his sexist remarks about Australian women.
McCabe recalls Simmons saying,”I love coming to Australia because all the women have big (breasts) and big (behinds).”
“Simmons’ verbal harassment tipped me over the edge of professionalism and I responded that as I possessed neither attribute, would he mind answering a question,” she said. “He laughed at me. I asked two more questions, he gave pretty much the same answer and I told him he had wasted enough of my time.”
McCabe said that she shared her experiences with Simmons on Facebook and several men and women responded, saying they had #MeToo moments with him.
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