Simmons settles suit with TV and radio personality

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

NEW YORK • Kiss frontman Gene Simmons (above) had previously said in interviews that he did not like people who "kiss and tell" and would stand up for himself.

But he has opted to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed that he had misbehaved sexually towards her, California court records revealed.

The woman, who is simply identified as Jane Doe in the court documents, is described as a television and radio personality in southern California. She filed her lawsuit on Dec 15.

She claimed the 68-year-old singer made "unwanted, unwarranted sexual advances" and "flicked" her in the throat. That happened during a recorded interview with him and his Kiss bandmate Paul Stanley at their Rock & Brews restaurant at the San Manuel Casino in Highland, California, on Nov 1.

"Soon after the interview commenced, defendant Simmons reached over and grabbed the plaintiff's hand and forcefully placed it on his knee," the lawsuit said.

He grabbed her hand a second time without permission and "commented with a cooing sound" that she "must use lotion", the documents obtained by the New York Daily News added.

Simmons also turned standard interview questions into sexual innuendos, which made the woman extremely uncomfortable, Billboard magazine reported.

She said she tried to end the interview at that point, but Simmons insisted they continue and allegedly groped her buttocks while posing for a group photograph.

Simmons had initially put up a defiant stand when he was slapped with the lawsuit.

"I don't go into the night softly. I've had a long 45-year career. Anybody wants to start something, you picked the wrong guy," he said.

The terms of the settlement are not known.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 11, 2018, with the headline Simmons settles suit with TV and radio personality. Subscribe