Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Paul Stanley Calls KISS Members Anti-Semitic

Turns out there was a lot going on behind all that KISS makeup.

In his new memoir, “Face the Music: A Life Exposed,” KISS frontman Paul Stanley (born Stanley Eisen) recounts that band member Ace Frehley had a collection of Nazi memorabilia.

The New York Post also reports that Stanley accuses both Frehley and Peter Criss of resenting himself and Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz in Israel) for their dominant roles in the creation process (and probably because they’re the only two whose names you remember).

“As a result, the two of them tried to sabotage the band — which, as they saw it, was unfairly manipulated by [us] money-grubbing Jews.”

Stanley added that these accustations of anti-Semitism were “based on years and years of interactions.”

Frehley’s rep. blew off the claims: “Let’s just say that Paul is trying to sell some books,” Frehley’s manager, Dave Frey, told The Huffington Post. “It’s definitely not true.”

For more glam-rock inside dish, check out Stanley’s book, available April 8.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.