Legendary rocker and KISS frontman Gene Simmons is being slammed by viewers for making “creepy” comments to female dancers during his appearance on Dancing With the Stars.
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While appearing as a guest judge for the “Hair Metal Night” episode on Tuesday, Oct. 8, Gene Simmons caused eyebrows to rise and some side-eyes as he made comments about the contestants’ physical appearances.
Just after NFL star Danny Amendola and his partner Witney Carson performed their Paso Doble to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” Simmons made a cringy comment.
“This is a brand new experience for me,” he said from the judge’s panel. “And it’s difficult to look at you and to figure out which one is more hot, hot, hot.”
Gene Simmons wasn’t done with his critique. “Danny, I’m telling you, you’re right next to somebody, one of the more beautiful women on the planet.”
Simmons then made another creepy comment while sharing his thoughts about Chandler Kinney and partner Brandon Armstrong’s Jive to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
“Chandler, you’ve fogged up my glasses,” the KISS bandmate said. “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.”
Of course, social media was flooded with criticism towards Simmons. “They don’t need to have Gene Simmons racist, sexist, misogynistic ass on this show again,” one fan wrote.
Another fan declared, “Lol Gene Simmons has been like that forever. Creepy man.”
Some ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Contestants Had Some Thoughts About How Gene Simmons Judged
Following the end of the episode, Armstrong spoke to the New York Post about how Gene Simmons judged.
“It was like trying to follow a gnat in a hurricane,” Armstrong said. “It just was like I could not keep track of what he was saying, but good on him.”
Kinney then pointed out, “It was entertaining for sure. I couldn’t predict what he was going to say next, so if that’s not good TV, I don’t know what is.”
Along with his inappropriate comments, Gene Simmons was also criticized for how he was judging the contestants. After receiving eights from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Bruno Tonioli, Simmons gave The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran a seven.
“Don’t hate me,” Simmons told Tran.
“He messed it all up, Gene, goddammit,” Tran’s partner, Sasha Farber stated.
Tran added, “Not even the scores, but the commentary was crazy.”
Phaedra Parks, who received a low score from Simmons, calls the rocker a “Ding-a-Ling”. “I loved the routine,” she explained to Page Six. “I think we did good, despite Gene Simmons being a total ding-a-ling.”
She then said, “I figure he didn’t like short Black women.”