KISS Icon Gene Simmons Speaks Out on Reagan Movie Controversy
He shares why he joined the Reagan project, defends his decisions, and discusses political divisions in modern discourse.
- Gene Simmons contributed a cover of “Stormy Weather” to the biopic Reagan, praising America as the promised land and Ronald Reagan as The Great Communicator.
- Hollywood backlash? Simmons admits he faced criticism but declared, ‘I don’t give a squat,’ emphasizing the importance of common ground over divisions.
- Trump talk: Simmons reflected on knowing Trump before politics, initially supporting him but later criticizing the polarization and conspiracy culture that followed.
Gene Simmons—yes, the man with the tongue, the fire-breathing antics, and more merchandise than a small country—has added movie soundtrack contributor to his résumé. Recently, he recorded a cover of “Stormy Weather” for the biopic Reagan. The movie is about Ronald Reagan, the man who acted his way into the White House, tore down walls (symbolic ones, not drywall), and, depending on who you ask, either saved America or started its slow descent into a dystopian theme park.
Simmons? He’s not sweating the backlash. Hollywood folks, apparently, weren’t thrilled about his involvement. But Gene’s response? “I don’t give a squat.” It’s a phrase that feels like it should be embroidered on a pillow and sold at one of his KISS-themed pop-up stores.
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Why did he do it? The answer, as Gene tells it, is equal parts personal and patriotic. “I came to America when I was eight,” he said. “Legal immigrant. This place is the promised land.” He says it like he’s holding a torch in one hand and the Statue of Liberty in the other, which is quite a mental image when you think about it. America, he explained, is like a dollar bill: it has two sides that don’t look anything alike, but both claim to represent the same thing. A metaphor that’s oddly accurate and depressing if you think too hard about it.
And Reagan? Gene was a fan. “He was The Great Communicator,” Simmons said, capital letters practically audible. “I didn’t know much about politics back then, but he had personality. He talked to Gorbachev, and boom—the wall came down.” Gene skipped over the nuances of geopolitics, but hey, it’s not like the rest of us were paying attention either.
Then there’s the Hollywood reaction, which might as well be the obligatory third act conflict in this saga. O’Reilly asked if Simmons caught flak for being in the film. “Sure,” Gene said. “But it falls right off my back. People have opinions. So what?” He said it like he’s a Zen master of not caring. And maybe he is.
He also mentioned hanging out with Jon Voight, one of Hollywood’s more outspoken Trump supporters. They swap stories, probably over something like scotch or cigars, which feels oddly appropriate for this timeline we’re all trapped in. “Everyone agrees on something,” Simmons said. “Charity. Kids. You know, the basics.” A nice sentiment, though you’d be forgiven for thinking it sounds suspiciously like wishful thinking.
The cover itself? It plays in a scene where Reagan and Jane Wyman sit in a nightclub. “The producers thought it worked, and so did I,” Simmons said. The song, first recorded by Ethel Waters, has a long and storied history—Grammy Hall of Fame, jazz classic, all that. Now, it’s the background for a fictionalized version of America’s favorite Cold War dad.
And of course, you can’t escape a Trump question in any interview post-2016. Simmons knew him before politics, back when Trump was just a guy with too much money and not enough taste. Simmons initially thought a businessman might make a good president. Spoiler alert: his optimism didn’t last. “The guy I knew then isn’t the guy I saw later,” he said.
As for where Simmons stands politically? He doesn’t. “I’m a centrist,” he said, which is a polite way of saying, “I’m not joining your ridiculous team.” He likes Romney. He doesn’t hate AOC. He thinks both sides are wrong, which feels both reasonable and deeply unsatisfying in a world addicted to extremes.
KISS was invited to perform at Trump’s inauguration. They didn’t. “Not a good idea,” Simmons said, leaving it at that. And his vote? He’s not telling. He insists we respect the office of the presidency, even if we’d rather toss the whole system in a blender and hit ‘puree.’
In the end, Gene Simmons is just a guy with a lot of opinions and zero patience for people telling him what to do. Is he a hero? A villain? Maybe he’s just a guy who played a song in a movie about a president, and the rest of us are overthinking it. Or maybe that’s the point—overthinking is the only thing we’re still good at.
So it goes.
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