Gene Simmons: "I'm okay with being labelled an asshole"

Gene Simmons at the HISTORY Channel's HISTORYTalks event held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 21, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

(Image credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images))

Gene Simmons says he is fine with being called an asshole – and even says he has reclaimed the word, comparing it to "black people taking possession of the 'n' word."

Simmons, 75, made the clumsy comparison in an interview with Really Famous With Kara Mayer Robinson.

He says: "I would say there are some, could be a large number, could not, who think I'm an asshole. In fact, I named my second solo album Asshole, which, I thought, was akin to black people taking possession of the 'n' word.

"And fat people, overweight people, obese people, taking possession of that, so that you lessen the impact of that.

"I'm okay with being labeled or thought of as an asshole, because I know who I am. And there are other people who think, 'You only do this for money.' And my response is "of course".

"Why am I not salt of the earth when almost all the jobs on the face of the planet are performed by people who don't like the job they have, and the only reason they're doing that is to be able to earn money to feed their families and put a roof over their head? Only for money.

"Nobody wants to dig ditches on a highway. The building we're in, somebody had to put up. They do that every day. They go to work, do the same thing every day, nine to five, five days a week. Join the union or not, and break their backs and never get rich.

"That's the salt of the earth. Why can't I be salt of the earth? The fact that I make more money?

"But I also give to philanthropy. And by the way, it's none of your fucking business who or what or where. I'm not trying to impress you or not. I know who I am. And maybe that's the best thing to do in life, is to just be comfortable in your own skin."

The full interview can be watched below.

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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.