KISS Dropped From MICHAEL JACKSON Tribute Concert

August 16, 2011

According to TMZ.com, the promoters of the Michael Jackson tribute concert have dropped KISS from the event's billing because of negative comments KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons made about Jackson in interviews the days and weeks after his death two years ago. Simmons spoke about his suspicions that Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation in 2005, was a pedophile.

The promoters tell TMZ.com, "We have listened to Michael's fans and are grateful to have been alerted to these unfortunate statements by Gene Simmons. Under the circumstances we fully agree that even though KISS is a band Michael admired we have no choice but to rescind our invitation to them to appear in our tribute concert."

In a 2010 issue of U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, Gene Simmons told journalist Geoff Barton he believed Jackson was a child molester despite the fact that the singer was acquitted of child-molestation charges.

"I knew Michael," Simmons was quoted as saying. "I ran into him a few times. I met him the first time before he became the superstar, when he was sort of teenagey, when he was still a JACKSON FIVE. This was in the Cher days, when Cher and I lived together.

"But as time moved on, and no matter what my fond memories and fond images of Michael were, with one allegation of pedophilia after another and another and anotherOh dear."

Simmons went on to say that he knew some of the musicians Jackson toured with, and cited one who quit after seeing "boys coming out of the hotel rooms...Well, you know, where there's smoke there's fire. There's no question in my mind he molested those kids. Not a doubt."

Simmons also said, "There's never been a single female of any age that I've ever known about who has ever made a claim that she has had a physical relationship with Michael, ever.

"The only sexual references ever made about Michael Jackson that were made by anyone, anywhere around the world, have always been made by kids, and specifically males usually 10 to 14 years of age; never females, that age or older, and never grown men."

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).