KISS Members Who Once Referred to Donald Trump As a ‘True Danger to Democracy' React to Kennedy Center Honor: ‘Deeply Honored'
Trump said he was deeply involved in the selection process this year — including his plans to become the first U.S. president to host the show — and the choice of KISS is interesting given the president's well-known aversion to anyone critical of him.
More from Billboard
The 5 Most Outrageous Things Donald Trump Said in Announcing the 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees
Kid Cudi Didn't Want to Testify in Diddy Trial, But 'I Knew I Was Helping Cassie'
Tyler, The Creator Has Had Enough of Timothée Chalamet in Fiery 'Marty Supreme' Trailer: Watch
Despite previously disagreeing with Trump's actions during his first term, in quotes first reported by TMZ, the band's members were reportedly joyful about joining the ranks of such past Kennedy Center icons as Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks, among many others.
'KISS is the embodiment of the American dream,' said bassist/singer Gene Simmons in the statements confirmed to Billboard by the band's reps. 'We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.'
Singer/guitarist Paul Stanley added, 'From our earliest days, KISS has embodied the American ideal that all things are possible and that hard work pays off. The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of KISS and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band.'
Former guitarist Ace Frehley called it a 'dream come true that I never thought would materialize' and former drummer Peter Criss said, 'I feel so blessed. This is the greatest honor of our career.'
Trump was the first president to never attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors gala during his first term and until recently he had never taken in a single program at the beloved D.C. arts center.
The choice of sometime critics KISS is interesting because it comes a week after Trump unexpectedly fired the head of the non-partisan, technocratic Bureau of Labor Statistics after it released a jobs report he claimed, without evidence, had been 'rigged' to make him look bad.
Simmons — who got fired by Trump in week three of the first season of the The Celebrity Apprentice in 2008 — initially praised the president before he first won the White House. The rocker known for his entrepreneurial acumen called Trump the 'truest political animal I've ever seen onstage,' lauding the former reality TV star for not having speechwriters and being 'good for the political system.
He changed his tune a short time later.
The band turned down a reported invitation to play Trump's first inauguration and by the time Trump lost his second bid for office to President Joe Biden in 2020, Simmons had a very different view. 'I knew him before he entered politics. Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization – got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it,' Simmons said to Spin in May 2022.
Simmons told the magazine that the two knew each other before the Apprentice from hanging around the same nightclubs, but that being president is a very different job than hosting a game show. 'You have a different responsibility when you're just a citizen or an entrepreneur. You don't make policy,' he said. 'It doesn't affect life and death. When you get into a position of power, it does affect lives. I don't think he's a Republican or a Democrat. He's out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker.'
Similarly, Stanley tweeted in Jan. 2021 that Trump's refusal to accept the results of the previous year's election loss was 'ABHORRENT. A true danger to our democracy. The issue isn't that it WON'T work. It's Mob Boss behavior and politicians putting party over audits, investigations, court rulings & COUNTRY in an effort to overrule the will of American voters.'
Stanley also referred to the violent horde of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as 'TERRORISTS,' calling the assault an 'armed insurrection' by a mob who were all pardoned when Trump took office again earlier this year. The singer also noted back then that the 'flames were fanned today & over time by the president [Trump] & specific senators who CANNOT be allowed now to distance from or denounce what they have directly caused. Know their names. THIS is the result of their deception. Shame.'
The Trump-hosted 2025 Kennedy Center Honors will air on CBS in December.
Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bob Odenkirk Still Does His Own Stunts in 'Nobody 2' After His Heart Attack — But There's One Big Rule (Exclusive)
The filmmakers behind the sequel to action-comedy 'Nobody' are 'not dumb,' quips Odenkirk. 'I am 62" NEED TO KNOW Bob Odenkirk speaks to PEOPLE exclusively in the video series My Life in Pictures In his new action-comedy Nobody 2, sequel to the 2021 hit Nobody, the Emmy winner does his own fighting Other stunts, he says, are off the table: 'They don't let me fly through the air' Yes, Bob Odenkirk does his own stunts. Well, almost all of them. 'I do my own fighting. But they don't let me fly through the air," reveals the 62-year-old actor-producer in PEOPLE's My Life in Pictures video series, while discussing the sequel to his 2021 action-comedy Nobody. The powers that be behind Nobody 2 (in theaters today) are 'not dumb,' he quips, when it comes to stunts like high falls or being attached to wires. 'I've had a heart attack,' says Odenkirk. 'I am 62.' It was before that 2021 heart attack, a near-fatal incident on the set of his hit drama Better Call Saul, that Odenkirk decided to take on the action genre with Nobody's director Ilya Naishuller and writer Derek Kolstad. 'This is another strange journey from my career,' he says, looking at photos from decades in and out of the spotlight. 'I had this strange notion that I could do action. I was in pretty good shape.' Saul Goodman, he adds, was 'a character who was never quitting, clever and had a real heart driving him. And I thought, 'All I gotta do is add the fighting to it, and I'm willing to train.' So I trained for years and I found some people who were foolish enough to back me at Universal Studios. And we made a 'big-little' film called Nobody.' Its sequel, from director Timo Tjahjanto, reunites the Emmy winner with costars Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, RZA and more. It adds Colin Hanks, John Ortiz and Sharon Stone to the action-packed world of Odenkirk's Hutch Mansell, a government assassin-turned-family man. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'I love doing the stunts,' admits the comedy veteran. 'The stunts are the closest thing to sketch comedy of anything I've done because there's something about pulling it off. You do the stunt, you have the choreography, you change it, you modify it, you invent things, and then you go behind the camera and watch it. And when it works, everyone laughs.' Odenkirk is aware that Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise — one year older at 63 — 'does his own stunts,' he says. 'I know, I know. Tom, good for you.' He adds, 'I'm probably not in as good a shape as good, ol' Tom Cruise.' Nobody 2 is in theaters now. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
In Theaters Now: Jimmy and Stiggs, Joe Begos' Blood-soaked Alien Freakout Invades Theaters Nationwide Today
The 16mm practical effects splatterfest from Eli Roth's The Horror Section has officially landed GET TICKETS NOW LOS ANGELES, August 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The wait is over. Joe Begos' brain-melting, eyeball-searing alien horror freakout Jimmy and Stiggs is officially now playing in theaters nationwide. The first theatrical release from Eli Roth's new studio, The Horror Section, Jimmy and Stiggs is a 16mm practical-effects explosion that is becoming a full-blown cult phenomenon. Following buzzy advanced screenings and fan-fueled hype at festivals like Beyond Fest and Sitges, the film is finally ready to be experienced in all its gory glory - just as Begos intended: in a packed theater, with brains melting and jaws dropping in unison. "This is the exact kind of movie I dreamed of watching in a packed theater as a teenager - bonkers, unhinged, full-on splatter, shot on 16mm, loaded with practical effects," said Eli Roth, Founder of The Horror Section. "People are calling it the wettest horror film they've ever seen and they're right. What Joe and his team pulled off must be seen to be believed. Jimmy and Stiggs is a gory, brain-melting blast, and releasing films like this, the ones studios are too scared to touch, is exactly why I started The Horror Section." Shot over four years in Begos' apartment with a self-proclaimed "crew of maniacs," every frame of Jimmy and Stiggs is handmade and hellbent on pushing the boundaries of indie horror. This neon-soaked nightmare is a midnight movie for the ages, from hand-built alien puppets and rigged-up blood geysers to custom-engineered camera rigs created with punk-rock ingenuity. "Jimmy and Stiggs was an absolutely insane, backbreaking, four-year descent into alien splatter madness - every frame, puppet, and blood rig built by hand in my apartment with a crew of maniacs," said director Joe Begos. "Now it's finally on the big screen, exactly how it was meant to be seen - on 16mm, in a packed theater, with fans ready to get their brains melted and eyeballs seared. It's the ultimate midnight movie, and I'm beyond thrilled it's finally out in the wild." And now fans can take a piece of the chaos home - Hot Topic has dropped its first-ever Jimmy and Stiggs merch collection, celebrating the neon-soaked alien horror madness from Joe Begos and Eli Roth's The Horror Section. Available exclusively at the online capsule includes T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and a framed poster packed with psychedelic graphics, eerie blacklight hues, and splatter-style mayhem—must-haves for horror lovers who want to wear their fandom loud. The official Jimmy and Stiggs soundtrack, released by Terror Vision Records, delivers a brain-frying original score from Steve Moore (VFW, Bliss, The Guest) to keep the madness going off-screen. A synth-soaked, blood-drenched descent into sonic chaos, it pulses with analog dread and horror-disco adrenaline—perfect for fans of 16mm alien mayhem. The soundtrack is available digitally now on Spotify, with vinyl, CD, and cassette coming soon at Backed by Media Capital Technologies (MCT) and distributed in collaboration with Iconic Events, Jimmy and Stiggs marks the launch of The Horror Section's theatrical-first mission to bring horror back where it belongs — in theaters. Tickets are on sale now at Watch the trailer here: About The Horror Section: The Horror Section is a fan-owned 360 media company focused on building a robust intellectual property library and creating the world's premier horror brand. The company was founded by iconic filmmaker and actor Eli Roth in partnership with Media Capital Technologies (MCT) to redefine the horror landscape. It is active in film, television, gaming, podcasts, and live events. View source version on Contacts For media inquiries, please contact:Milly JonesSUBJECTmilly@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I'm Straight Up SCREAMING At My Computer Screen After Seeing These Unhinged Things People Tried To Sell On The Internet Last Week
1.A gently-used Kia Soul: 2.A bit of regret: 3.A little something for the boys: best way to travel while dead: Related: ULTIMATE remote: perfect accessory: one Elmo you never want to spell with: 8.A wonderful ring (man not included): perfect thing for your driveway: Related: 10.A well-raised printer: 11.A cone for any occasion: 12.A garbage can full of delicious liquid: finest of fine art: Related: 14.A portrait of an artist as an old man: heaviest shirt in existence: almighty ZANK: only holder you'll ever need: history: absolute steal on a very calming mask: Related: ugly old chair: fastest toilet around: rarest of rare goldfish: 23.A great type of shoe: 24.A big rusty grill: an interesting take on the hottest trend: Well, then. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds:
