Gene Simmons, the Kiss rock ‘n roller who also served as an expert on Ebola and health policy, has now been banned for life from Fox News and Fox Business after bopping Fox employees on the head with his new book, telling Michael Jackson pedophilia jokes and more.
According to The Daily Beast, things went south after Simmons promoted his new book on Fox & Friends on FNC and Mornings with Maria on FBN:
According to a knowledgeable Fox News source, Simmons showed up on the 14th floor to do a book-plugging interview with FoxNews.com’s entertainment section, but instead barged in on a staff meeting uninvited.
“Hey chicks, sue me!” he shouted, and then pulled open his red velvet shirt to reveal his chest and belly, according to the source. Then he starting telling Michael Jackson pedophilia jokes, and then bopped two employees on the head with his book, making derisive comments about their comparative intelligence according to the sound their heads made when struck.
In August, Simmons was fingered as a sexual harasser by Caroline Heldman. Once a regular guest on Fox, Heldman wrote in a Facebook post about sexual harassment at Fox: “In 2010, I consoled a make-up artist (who no longer works for Fox) after Gene Simmons sexually harassed her, and this was not his first time doing so."
And yet, as NewsHound Richard noted in a tweet, sexual harasser Bill O’Reilly was not only allowed back in the building but on the air as a Hannity show guest after he was ousted over sexual harassment. In fact, O’Reilly was treated as a guest of honor.
The Daily Beast reports that Simmons' interview with FoxNews.com was taped but will not be published. But you can watch him take over a Fox & Friends weather report below, shortly before his Fox career would screech to a halt. It's from the November 15, 2017 Fox & Friends.
MUST SEE: @genesimmons helps @JaniceDean with the weather! pic.twitter.com/EFfRQESNuq
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) November 15, 2017
Q: What do NPR’s “Fresh Air With Terry Gross” and Fox News have in common?
A: Gene Simmons is not welcome at either.
(They’d have absolutely nothing else in common otherwise)
.