KISS Fan Dismissed From German Reality TV Show Over 'Nazi' Tattoo

March 19, 2005

A 42-year-old KISS fan from Frankfurt was dismissed from the German reality TV show "Big Brother" because his tattoo of the original KISSlogo was deemed too similar to the symbol used by Nazi stormtroopers during World War II.

In an official statement, RTL 2, the German TV station responsible for producing the "Big Brother" show, said, "'Big Brother' is family entertainment. When RTL 2 has reason to believe that wrong implications or inferences could be made in connection with this show, or that our viewers could be offended by the program, we have the responsibility to act."

To avoid being banned from touring or selling records in Germany, KISS were forced to change their logo on all German releases beginning with 1980's "Unmasked" so the lightning-bolt "SS" didn't resemble the Nazi logo, according to KISS fan site SKKK. KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, both of whom are Jewish, took great offense to the allegations that KISS were Nazis. Gene was born in Israel and his mother spent some time in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Ironically, at a show in Milan, Italy on September 2, 1980, a group of skinheads stormed through some barricades and descended on the band believing them to be their allies.

A Spiegel.de article (in German) on the "Big Brother"/KISS controversy can be viewed at this location.

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