PAUL STANLEY Says GENE SIMMONS' Reality TV Show 'Wasn't Reality'

In the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine, KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley reveals that he never appeared — despite many requests — in any of the 167 episodes of KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", "because it wasn't reality." He added: "To create a life that isn't accurate and for me to be a part of it, or to help you promote something that I think is questionable ... and, quite honestly, waste my time? You're missing out on living a real life if you're filming a fake one."

Stanley also acknowledged during the same interview that Simmons' perceived role as a band spokesman is misleading.

"Gene's makeup is the face of KISS," Stanley said. "It's the strongest. But the idea that he's the motivating force in the band — that's only believed by people who don't know the band."

According to Stanley, KISS' 1984 album "Animalize" was close to a Paul Stanley solo album because Simmons was busy at the time pursuing an acting career and other projects, including managing Liza Minnelli's career. "And it wasn't like he was making 'Gone With The Wind'," Stanley told Rolling Stone. "Some of it was more like passing wind! But what I resented was just being informed and then working to his plan. It didn't seem fair."

He added: "I could deal with ['Animalize' being close a Stanley solo album]. What I couldn't deal with was that somebody wanted to be paid for not doing their job. If it applied to [fellow original KISS members] Ace [Frehley, guitar] and Peter [Criss, drums], it applies to Gene, too."

When confronted with a list of Stanley's complaints about him, Simmons made very little effort to defend himself.

"The luckiest break I ever got was meeting Paul Stanley," Gene said. "Who hated me when he first met me — thought I was arrogant. True! Self-absorbed. True! Guilty as charged. Thinks that he's better than he actually is. Guilty as charged. And yet something in that mixture between us — you know they say that purebred dogs are retarded. It is the differences in things that make something stronger."