Ace Frehley says Kiss frontman Paul Stanley called him to say "f*** you" and then hung up

A picture of Ace Frehley
(Image credit: Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images)

Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says he has heard from Paul Stanley after demanding an apology – but the conversation was very brief and very sweary.

Frehley recently took umbrage with Stanley insulting him and former drummer Peter Criss on Kiss' appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show. Asked by Stern about their refusal to perform with Frehley and former drummer Peter Criss at their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014, Stanley responded: "Because if you saw people onstage who looked like Kiss but sounded like that... maybe we should be called Piss."

Frehley later told Sirius XM's Trunk Nation that if he didn't get an apology for the remark, he would release a 120-page dossier of "dirt" on Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons that he keeps in a safety deposit box.

Returning to Trunk Nation today (April 5), Frehley was asked if Stanley had reached out.

He says: "Yes, he did — not long after the show was over. And I was blindsided by the phone call because I saw his name come up on my cell phone.

"I figured he was calling me maybe to apologize or at least explain why he said that. Maybe he meant it really more towards Peter than me, and whatever the case may be.

"But instead of an apology, I got a five-second phone call which said, 'Fuck you, Ace. I'm not gonna apologise,' and hung up. He wasn't even man enough to let me give a rebuttal and explain why I'm so upset or anything like that."

Frehley and the current members of Kiss have a history of trading insults. In 2014 Stanley described Frehley and Criss as being "like flat tires" during an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.