Gene Simmons Sexual Battery Lawsuit Dismissed
Gene Simmons says that a sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by a radio and television broadcaster has been dismissed.
The woman, identified as “Jane Doe,” filed a lawsuit against Simmons in Los Angeles Superior Court on last December alleging that the KISS bassist/vocalist grabbed her hand multiple times and “forcefully placed it on his knee and held it on his knee.” The accuser, identified in the documents as a “longtime on-air personality for a local rock station,” also said the 68-year-old rocker “forcibly flicked/struck” her throat when she spoke to Simmons and his bandmate Paul Stanley at their Rock & Brews restaurant at San Manuel Casino in Highland, California. In addition, she claimed Simmons “reached toward [her] buttocks and touched it” while they were posing for a promotional photo together after the interview.
Asked by Australia’s News Corp about the lawsuit, Simmons said: “It’s already dismissed with prejudice,” meaning that the court case cannot be refiled. “We’re going after that person,” he continued. “When I was growing up and somebody said something bad about you, you would be able to sue back for slander.”
He added: “There’s presumption of innocence, and 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.”
The lawsuit against Gene came less than a month after it was reported that he had received a lifetime ban from Fox News for crashing a staff meeting and allegedly indulging in some bizarre behavior. He later denied the allegations, telling BBC “Hardtalk”that “somebody [at Fox] apparently had the goods in for me and called The Daily Beast or something and said whatever they said I did. I did nothing. I always had people around me. Like when I come here, I’ve got handlers and everybody sees what I’m doing. You can’t go into a public area and do anything.”
Simmons went on to talk about the pitfalls of social media at times only spotlighting one side of a story: “Nobody calls you and says, ‘Do you have a comment?’ So the story was printed, and, of course, everybody exploded. And Fox, they’re nice people — I like them a lot — closed ranks and they’re afraid of getting sued by everybody. Nothing happened. I stand by every word.”
