Gene Simmons Faces Lawsuit — Will It Open Can Of Worms For Rockers Who Had Groupies Galore? [Opinion]

Rock bands had their own culture with groupies in bygone decades, so if Gene Simmons is getting sued for a hand on the knee, the floodgates may just spring wide open for all rockers.

Hermann J. Knippertz / AP Images
Celebrities

A woman who is known as only “Jane Doe” is suing Rocker and business mogul Gene Simmons, who is a member of the band Kiss. It seems that Jane Doe has come forth with the accusation that Simmons held her hand on his knee until the woman was able to remove it. The lawsuit goes on to claim that Simmons continued with his “unwarranted sexual advances” by reaching for the woman’s hand again.”

This woman alleged that Gene Simmons “groped her and made unwarranted sexual advances during a video interview in November,” according to Fox News. The lawsuit also claims that he made sexual innuendos such as commenting that she “must use lotion” after grabbing her hand again.” It is not hard to see the collective thinking about these accusations by reading what people have to say in the comment section of the Fox News article about this story.

“This is just getting stupid,” writes one commenter, while another person offers their sarcastic take on this and writes, “Forced her hand on his knee? Wel, that’s it! Life behind bars for Gene!” One conversation among some of the people commenting on this lawsuit reads like an attempt to predict the future, which is “this is just the beginning.”

One person writes: “For as many women as Gene claims to have been intimate with, I’m surprised it took this long for someone to cry foul.” Another commenter answers with, “They were all willing and eager.” Then another commenter jumps writing: “I’m sure they were, but in today’s climate and accusatory environment, I’m surprised they all aren’t banding together claiming assault for a payday.”

Kiss 1995
Gene Simmons and Kiss back in 1995. Wally Santana / AP Images

The story on Fox about Gene Simmons being sued by this woman spawned a conversation with 720 people online Sunday morning. People were writing things like “He made her touch his…..KNEE, what an animal. Come on lady, it’s Gene Simmons.” Another one adds, “It’s like getting into a lion’s cage and expecting the lion to behave like a kitty.”

According to what the Fox News article reports, this woman or “Jane Doe,” isn’t someone who is oblivious to the rock scene. She was reportedly in a restaurant interviewing Simmons at the time and they say she is a “long-time on-air personality for a local rock station.”

Rolling Stone reports that Simmons denies the accusations. He said in a statement:

“I intend to defend myself against any alleged charges you may have been reading about in the media. For the record, I did not assault the person making these accusations in the manner alleged in the complaint or harm her in any way. I am conferring with my lawyers with the aim of vigorously countering these allegations. And, I look forward to my day in court where the evidence will prove my innocence.”

Some people have taken the stand that if you are going to come out and make these accusations to the public and use Gene Simmons’s name then you should probably introduce yourself. The lawyer for this woman, Willie W. Williams, claims his client is “embarrassed and humiliated by the incident with Mr. Simmons.” She “wishes to remain anonymous,” but as people online are pointing out, she was not willing to do the same for Simmons.

Sexual assault is no joking matter, but people are pushing what constitutes a sexual assault to the point where many are left scratching their heads. This incident with Simmons occurred during a video interview. Did Jane Doe get up and leave or did she continue on to get this interview? That part isn’t clearly mentioned in the reports.

Rolling Stone does report: “At one point Doe attempted to end the interview.” But she apparently didn’t because Rolling Stone goes on to say “When the interview did end and Simmons, Doe and her team posed for promotional pictures, the lawsuit states that Simmons ‘reached towards [Doe’s] buttocks and touched it.'”

Wouldn’t someone who is reportedly in that much distress just put an end to the interview… period? She had a “team” of people with her and “posed for photos” after the interview. Didn’t this woman have free will to walk out the very moment she allegedly first felt uncomfortable? Why didn’t she?

If women are feeling inappropriate behavior is going on, you get up and leave, you don’t continue on to get what you want and complain about it later. Women need to take some responsibility in their destiny as well. Rock bands were notorious for having groupies decades ago, some even wrote songs about them. If Gene Simmons is successfully sued, then it may just be that a can of worms has been opened and it is just a matter of time before rock band members find themselves dealing with what Simmons is dealing with today.

Before these lawsuits progress into an event where the courts are clogged, some guidelines should be drawn up with clear-cut boundaries that demonstrate the difference between a forced sexual advance vs. a pass being made. There are some horrific incidents out there were women have truly suffered, but there are others that appear questionable and these muddy the waters for those who were truly victims.

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