GENE SIMMONS Admits He Took Some Heat For Contributing To 'Reagan' Movie, But Says 'I Don't Give A Squat'

During a recent appearance on former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's "No Spin News" podcast, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke about his cover version of the Ethel Waters song "Stormy Weather", which was included in Sean McNamara's "Reagan" biopic, about the 40th president of the United States Ronald Reagan. Asked why he got involved in the project, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The other fella, who, actually, I'm proud to say I've written some songs with, is Bob Dylan. He also did a track for the 'Reagan' movie." He continued: "When my mother came to America with yours truly, I was eight and a half years old. We are immigrants. We are legal immigrants. And as far as I'm concerned, I was born in the promised land. But let me tell you something: America is the promised land. I came to America and discovered that anything is possible. There are no limits, no nothing. And despite the fact that people agree and disagree and all that stuff, this is still the light and will continue to be the light that shines the world. I may agree with some of the stuff Bill O'Reilly says, and some of the stuff I don't agree with, but so what? If you take a look at a dollar bill, the other side doesn't look like the other side, but they can both lay claim to the idea that this is their America as well. I don't have to agree with you. We can both live in the same country."

Asked if he admired Reagan, Simmons, who was 31 when the 40th U.S. president took office, said: "I did. I was much younger, obviously, when he was president, and I knew nothing, almost nothing about the body of politics. But interestingly, in hindsight, it bears noting that the political and pop culture figures of any age were always about the impression, the ability to communicate a feeling. And perhaps that's more important, the power of the personality, than what's written on a piece of paper. And now imagine a different president trying to communicate with [Mikhail] Gorbachev [who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991] and literally causing that wall to come down, which resulted in the fall of communism. That was Reagan; [he was a] great communicator. I was always a fan of his. I may have disagreed with something or something, but so what?"

Asked if he "took any heat" from the "liberal and progressive Hollywood" from contributing to the film, Gene said: "How do I say this as nicely as I can? I don't give a squat." When O'Reilly pressed him about whether he took any heat, Gene said, "Yes," before adding: "Well, everybody's entitled to an opinion. It falls off your back… I think it is the bastion of a certain political leaning of the thing, but that's okay. [85-year-old actor and outspoken supporter of Donald Trump] Jon Voight and I hang out, we trade stories and everything else, and some people agree with this politics, some not. But everybody gives to charity, everybody loves children, and so think about the stuff that we agree with instead of the stuff that we don't."

The official music video for Simmons's cover of "Stormy Weather" can be seen below. The video, which was released by Rawhide Pictures, the producer of "Reagan", includes footage of Simmons recording the song behind a simple piano accompaniment intercut with clips from the movie.

Simmons told Newsweek about his cover of "Stormy Weather": "It seemed to me during the scenes where Ronald Reagan was sitting with Jane Wyman at the club, there would probably be music playing in the background. I was actually thrilled that the producers thought my version of the song would work in the scene."

Gene also praised Reagan, calling him a "great American" who will "certainly go down in future generations as one of America's great presidents."

"Interestingly, and I suspect the masses didn't know this about President Reagan, he started off as an actor, joined the Democratic Party, then became disillusioned with the Democratic party, and joined the Republican party," Simmons said.

Composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Ted Koehler had created "Stormy Weather" with the bandleader and entertainer Cab Calloway in mind, but Calloway had not been signed to appear in the 20-second edition of the "Cotton Club Parade"; Duke Ellington had been signed instead. So, Ethel was invited to sing "Stormy Weather" with Ellington and his orchestra.

Ethel recorded "Stormy Weather" on May 3, 1933 for Columbia, and this became her next crossover hit, a success even larger than her 1925 recording "Dinah". In 2003, Ethel's 1933 recording of "Stormy Weather" was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in the category of "Jazz" (Single). In 2004, the Library Of Congress honored the song by adding it to the National Recording Registry.

Two years ago, Simmons spoke about current U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, on whose "The Celebrity Apprentice" show he was once a contestant.

"For the record, when [Trump] first ran in 2016 and got elected, I was happy," Gene said. "I knew the guy from before then, seeing him in clubs and stuff like that. And for the record, he had Bill and Hillary [Clinton] at his wedding and Howard Stern went to his wedding. He's not a politician. But my point, I wanna say for the record, and people will tell you who know me, 'Oh, yeah, Gene was happy that Trump won.' I was. I didn't want Hillary [to be president]. I thought, 'Oh, a businessman is coming in. He understands how to run things.'"

When Maher pointed out that Trump doesn't understand how government works and doesn't care to learn, Gene said: "I agree. The person that I saw first coming into power is not the person I saw within a year or two of that… But I changed, the way lots of people changed."

Elsewhere during the chat, Gene went on to say that he is one of the more than sixty percent of the U.S. electorate which doesn't necessarily identify with a major party.

"Generally speaking, I'm a centrist," he said. "I don't like AOC [New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and I'm not a fan of [Vermont senator] Bernie [Sanders], but I think they're both fine people. I do like [Utah senator] Mitt Romney and [Wyoming congressperson] Miss [Liz] Cheney, I do like that, and both sides hate you for saying those things, because they both want you to align yourself with what the marching orders are. 'If you're a Democrat, it means this. You're a progressive.' I'm not a progressive. I know that business has to involve people who don't agree with you."

This was not the first time Simmons had been critical of Trump. In May 2022, he told SPIN: "I know the previous [U.S.] president," he said. "I knew him before he entered politics. Look what that gentleman did to this country and the polarization — got all the cockroaches to rise to the top. Once upon a time, you were embarrassed to be publicly racist and out there with conspiracy theories. Now it's all out in the open because he allowed it."

Simmons went on to say that he and Trump "knew each other" before "The Celebrity Apprentice", "in clubs and all that. You have a different responsibility when you're just a citizen or an entrepreneur," he added. "You don't make policy. It doesn't affect life and death. When you get into a position of power, it does affect lives.

"I don't think he's a Republican or a Democrat," Gene said of Trump. "He's out for himself, any way you can get there. And in the last election, over 70 million people bought it hook, line and sinker."

Simmons previously touched upon his feelings about the Trump presidency in August 2021 while speaking to Yahoo!'s Lyndsey Parker about the negative response he gets from some of his fans every time he shares his pro-vaccine stance on Twitter.

"It's been politicized," he said. "The gentleman who was in office, the former president [Donald Trump], I knew before the political world. It's the same person I knew before; the stripes of a tiger don't change. And the unfortunate thing is that… Look, we all lie to some extent, but what happened the last four years was beyond anything I ever thought imaginable from people who had lots of power — not just him, but the administration, everybody. And unfortunately, that disease — The Big Lie notwithstanding — has really infected a large portion of the population."

Asked to elaborate on his comment that Trump is "the same person" he knew when he was a contestant on Trump's "The Celebrity Apprentice" series, Gene said: "We were in a restaurant together, and I happened to be with an attractive young lady. And he walked up and said, 'Hey, Gene, you and I, we're exactly the same. We like the hot chicks.' That was a strange thing to say, but yeah, I guess that's true. But I think it's the same person. And maybe that was the appeal and continues to be. People are sick and tired of politically correct language and stuff.

"In a political dialogue, if somebody spews complete fiction and QAnon stuff, you wanna be able to have somebody who says, 'Are you out of your fucking mind? Did you just shit your diapers and forget to wipe it?'" Simmons added. "We're looking for that politician who just says instead of watching your language. Because the other side will spew garbage and lies and everything."

Back in 2019, Simmons said that Trump had "forever changed" politics. He added that "earth has never been in better shape" than it was in the summer of 2019. "I know — climate change and a polarized political thing — but there are no more world wars," he stated at the time. "I mean, imagine what London looked like 60 years ago. This is the best of times. Unemployment in the United States is the lowest it's been in 50 years — 5-0. When I rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange at their behest, the Dow [Jones Industrial Average] was about 8,000. It's almost 27,000 today. More people are working. More people are making more money. Unions are more powerful."

In the past, Gene had defended Trump's occasional off-color remarks and frequently outrageous statements, saying: "I don't know anybody here who hasn't said stupid things publicly or privately. You've said potty words and so have I. So I'm gonna give the guy who was duly elected a chance to show us what he can do, and then I'll judge his legacy."

Simmons said that he "didn't necessarily vote for Trump or [Hillary] Clinton" in the 2016 presidential election, adding that "it's really nobody's damn business" whom he voted for. "I think you'd be surprised by my choice — but he's President Trump, because even if you don't like the man, you must respect the office of the presidency and the will of the Electoral College," he said.

In 2017, Simmons confirmed that KISS was invited to perform at Trump's inauguration but turned it down because it was "not a good idea."