Kiss bassist Gene Simmons gave a firm dismissal to celebrities voicing their opinions on political events on Tuesday.
Actor Ben Stiller asked the White House to remove a clip of one of his movies from a video it posted to X, saying, “We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine.” A reporter asked Simmons about Stiller’s complaint, to which the musician joked that everyone should listen to actors and comedians “because they’re so qualified.”
“Basically, shut the f*** up. Do your art, and shut up. Nobody’s interested in your opinions, [and] that includes me, who I vote for, who I like. Who the f*** you think you are?” Simmons told TMZ.
Simmons added people don’t want to be “lectured to” by people who “live in mansions and drive Rolls-Royces.” He also said people working in the entertainment industry need to “shut your piehole,” as “nobody cares what you think.”
The musician also called out Mark “Ruffalo Buffalo,” saying, “I don’t care” what he thinks. He then jokingly suggested people could ask Kylie Jenner what she thinks “of the war so far.”
Ruffalo participated in a State of the Union counterprotest called “State of the Swamp” in February, where he appeared via video.
Actor Robert De Niro served as the event’s main speaker, where he encouraged the United States to “turn its back on the daily atrocities of the Trump regime and their enablers.”
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Simmons testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in December in support of a bill that would require the radio industry to pay artists when their music is played. He told the Washington Examiner that this bill is about protecting the next Elvis Presley.
Kiss, one of the most well-known rock bands of the 20th century, was one of five artists President Donald Trump honored at the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony last December. Other entertainment talents the president honored were country music star George Strait, disco queen Gloria Gaynor, Broadway legend Michael Crawford, and movie star Sylvester Stallone.
