Gene Simmons’s use of his role as a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars to “sexualize women” has shocked fans of the show.
The 75-year-old lead singer of KISS, who is known for having a huge stage presence and personality, joined the show to give feedback to the contestants on Hair Metal Night as they danced to famous rock songs from the 1980s.
People are now demanding that the network “apologize” for “putting a creep on the show” and giving him a chance to say “sexist” and “cringe-worthy” things.
Find out why Simmons’ fans are so excited about her season of DWTS by reading on!
Gene Simmons, the lead singer of the rock band KISS, made a controversial guest appearance on the October 9 show of Dancing with the Stars.
Simmons, Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli all judged the famous dancers as part of the show’s “Hair Metal Night.”
Even though the show was full of nostalgia with hits like “Cherry Pie” and “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” Simmons’ sexually suggestive comments made many fans forget about the good times.
His rock image has long been linked to breaking rules, but many people thought his behavior wasn’t right for the fun nature of the competition series.
Simmons, who is 75 years old, said a few things during the show that were less about the dancing and more about how the female dancer looked, which many viewers found “creepy.”
Wifney Carson and Danny Amendola, a former wide receiver in the NFL, started dancing. “The Demon” said he couldn’t tell who was more “hot hot hot.”
Dan, I’m telling you, you’re right next to one of the most beautiful women in the world. You look good with her. You need to go to the gym, buddy. “You have to get in there,” Simmons said.
After that, he talked about Emma Slater, who was dancing with actor Reginald VelJohnson: “You’ve got a beautiful woman right next to you who can twist and turn it, move it, and all that.”
The rock star also had something to say about VelJohnson. Simmons told Reggie, “I want you to know that I’m kind of a big deal because I’ve been on stage all over the world for fifty years.” “Your attitude makes all the difference, and that pretty face makes them love you!”
One of the most cringeworthy things he said was probably about actress and singer Chandler Kinney. He took off his dark glasses to explain that her moves “fogged up” them. Simmons then said, “You moved me, not just with your gyrations and so on, but with your beautiful face and how you were into the emotion of it from top to bottom.”
He did, however, give Kinney some useful advice when he praised her skills and said she has a “big future” ahead of her.
Backlash quickly filled social media, with many people voicing their discomfort and anger. Some fans even said he was the “worst guest judge” in the show’s 33-season history.
“Gene Simmons is funny and I like him a lot.” As a guest judge, though, that wasn’t the case. One DWTS fan writes on the show’s Facebook page, “Very inappropriate and just not helpful.”
“It was awkward for us to watch; I can’t even imagine how the women felt,” says a second. He was just giving out random numbers; he wasn’t judging dances.
Gene was a loser! The notes, feedback, and scores he gave were all wrong.
A third reviewer says, “What he said about all the girls made me cringe!”
Someone else says Simmons is “vulgar” and “the worst judge ever.”
While this is going on, other people online are criticizing ABC and Disney+ and asking them to apologize to dance competition fans.
People on the internet, mostly women, say on Facebook, “You owe the dancers and your fans the biggest apology for letting that creep on your show and sexualizing them on live TV.”
“They need to say sorry for having Gene Simmons,” writes a second. It made me cringe. He was awful, and what he said was sexist.
“But they had a felon on the show this season,” says another. This person is talking about Anna Delvey (Sorokin), the convicted fraudster who caused a lot of debate when she appeared on the first episode of the new season of DWTS on September 17.
What do you think about DWTS’s choice to have Simmons as a guest judge? Tell us what you think, and then share this story so other people can send us their thoughts too!
