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KISS Founder Denies Charge of Anti-Semitism From Former Bandmate
by Shiryn Ghermezian
KISS in concert. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The former drummer and a founder of hard rock band KISS Peter Criss on Monday vehemently denied allegations of anti-Semitism leveled against him by the band’s guitarist Paul Stanley.
Criss, 68, told gossip site TMZ that he supports all religions and that his favorite aunt was Jewish.
Stanley — who like fellow KISS founder Gene Simmons is Jewish — wrote in his tell-all memoir Face the Music: A Life Exposed that Criss and original guitarist Ace Frehley were vocal anti-Semites. Stanley also accuses Criss of being a racist who enjoyed mocking waiters at Chinese restaurants, which Criss also denied.
“Ace and particularly Peter felt powerless and impotent when faced with the tireless focus, drive and ambition of me and Gene,” Stanley wrote in his memoir. “As a result, the two of them tried to sabotage the band – which, as they saw it, was unfairly manipulated by money-grubbing Jews.”
Criss told TMZ he spoke to a lawyer but has no plans to take legal action against Stanley.
The band is set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in two days time.
Tensions are so high between Stanley, Simmons and their former bandmates that the original lineup refused to perform together at a Hall of Fame concert in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday, according to the New York Daily News.
