Gene Simmons Sends Apology To David Lee Roth

Simmons Blamed It On “Diarrhea of the Mouth”

KISS’ Gene Simmons has apologized to David Lee Roth after making disparaging remarks on his performance abilities.

It all began with Simmons’ recent Rolling Stone interview. He confirmed that DLR will no longer be providing support to KISS during their farewell outing. He initially praised Roth, calling him the “ultimate frontman” but that Simmons didn’t “know what happened to him” to Roth in recent years. Simmons then compared modern-day Roth to a “bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.”

Roth responded by spamming his own Instagram account with 18 black and white images of a kid wearing sunglasses and flipping the bird.

Now in a new interview, he extended his apologies to Roth.

“I am so sorry and ashamed, actually, that I hurt David’s feelings,” Simmons told US Weekly. “I’m the guy, actually, that saw Van Halen at a club [in the 1970s], signed them to my production company, flew them to New York, produced their first 24-track 15-song demo and championed the band.”

“And in the course of an interview,” he continued. “You hear me talking — I just sort of stream of consciousness… I don’t mean to hurt people’s feelings, and every once in a while, diarrhea of the mouth comes out.”

“I read that quote, and somehow the way they put it together… I think I said something like, ‘Nobody touched David in his prime — not Robert Plant, not Jagger, not anybody… He was the king,’” Simmons explained. “And then somehow there was a segue to Elvis bloated on the ground and fat and naked and I don’t wanna see that. I wasn’t talking about David, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is I hurt David’s feelings, and that’s more important than the intent.”

“So I sincerely apologize for that. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings,” Simmons added. “It reminds me of the guy that gets out of a truck and says, ‘Hey, I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to run you over.’ Well, what the f–k’s the difference? You’ve been run over.”

KISS hired performance painter David Garibaldi as Roth’s replacement for their opening act.