Former KISS Manager Ripped By Ex-Wife

July 12, 2006

Laura Italiano of the New York Post is reporting that former KISS manager and longtime fugitive Jesse Hilsen, who spent 10 years on the lam rather than pay a $2 million alimony and child-support tab, was hauled into Manhattan Family Court in handcuffs yesterday (July 11),where his ex-wife testified against him.

"Have you received any money from the respondent whatsoever [since 1994]?" lawyer Jacqueline Bukowski asked client Rita Hilsen.

"No," answered the frail ex-wife, who has lived in an Upper West Side homeless shelter for 11 years.

In the 1970s and 80s, Hilsen was a successful Manhattan psychotherapist. He became KISS's manager in 1988 because the band had grown leery of music-industry insiders; Dr. Hilsen was the therapist for Paul Stanley, KISS's frontman.

KISS leaders Gene Simmons and Stanley were served subpoenas by a private investigator in September 2003 before their performance at Chicago's Tweeter Center in connection with the case.

The purpose of the subpoenas was to determine what, if any, financial ties exist between Hilsen and the band, as well as whether any band members have been in touch with him since he became a fugitive. Hilsen and KISS split in 1992.

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