Dee Snider defends Kiss over “people shit talking” after accepting Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center Honor
Dee Snider has defended Kiss against “people shit talking” about the band after they accepted a Kennedy Center Honor from Donald Trump.
The classic hard rock band accepted the honour at a ceremony hosted by the US president on December 7th, alongside the likes of Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, and Michael Crawford.
However, they have attracted controversy because of this, due to Trump’s divisive political stance and the plans he has for taking over the arts, including an alleged idea to rename the iconic Kennedy Center after himself.
Despite this, Snider feels the criticism being directed towards Kiss is unfair, as he took to X on December 14th to say: There are a lot of people shit talking Kiss for accepting their Kennedy Center Honor Medals from the current president. You either think they are worthy or not (I think they are).”
The Twisted Sister frontman added, “An artist can’t wait for a president of their liking to be in office to receive it. Most of the recipients are not young, Poor Ace Frehley – who was very excited to receive the award – died before the day came. You accept the honor when it is offered.”
Going on to congratulate each of the Kiss band members individually, Snider signed off his statement by noting: “You are worthy!”
It comes as the band attracted further controversy in light of the ceremony, after frontman Gene Simmons attributed the death of guitarist Frehley in October to “bad decisions”.
He said in an interview with The New York Times: “He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle. In and out of bad decisions.”
However, after receiving backlash from these comments, Simmons subsequently took to X last week to apologise, saying: “On reflection, I was wrong for using the words I used. I humbly apologize. My hand to God I didn’t intended to hurt Ace or his legacy but upon rereading my words, I see how it hurt everyone. Again, I apologize. I’ve always loved Ace. Always.”
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