Dee Snider has hit out at the fans “shit talking” KISS for accepting Kennedy Center Honor Medals from Donald Trump recently.
Earlier this month (December 7), the US President awarded this year’s honourees – among them KISS, Sylvester Stallone and Gloria Gaynor – with medals for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.
The move to accept the honours proved divisive, particularly after frontman Paul Stanley described Trump as “abhorrent” and “a true danger” to democracy back in 2021, but spoke of his pride in accepting the honour more recently.
With fans quick to highlight Stanley changing his tune, the Twisted Sister vocalist has now come to their defence. “There are a lot of people shit talking @kiss for accepting their Kennedy Center Honor Medals from the current president,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“You either think they are worthy or not (I think they are). An artist can’t wait for a president of their liking to be in office to receive it. Most of the recipients are not young, Poor Ace Frehley – who was very excited to receive the award – died before the day came. You accept the honor when it is offered.”
Congratulating the band members individually, he signed off the post: “You are worthy!”
IMHO: There are a lot of people shit talking @kiss for accepting their Kennedy Center Honor Medals from the current president. You either think they are worthy or not (I think they are). An artist can’t wait for a president of their liking to be in office to receive it. Most of…
— Dee Snider🇺🇸🎤 (@deesnider) December 14, 2025
Unlike Stanley, the late Ace Frehley – who was inducted posthumously – was supportive of Trump in the past. “I will say I’m a Trump supporter,” he said in 2020. “All the politicians have had skeletons in the closet. But I think Trump is the strongest leader that we’ve got on the table.”
Ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors, Simmons told the New York Times that “bad decisions” led to Frehley’s fatal fall, seemingly implying that substance abuse might have played a role.
“He refused [advice] from people that cared about him – including yours truly – to try to change his lifestyle,” he said. “In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs — I’m not a doctor — doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart.
“The saddest thing – you reap what you shall sow unfortunately.”
Simmons has now apologised for what he said. Writing on X last Wednesday (December 10), he said: “On reflection, I was wrong for using the words I used. I humbly apologize. My hand to God I didn’t intended to hurt Ace or his legacy but upon rereading my words, I see how it hurt everyone. Again, I apologize. I’ve always loved Ace. Always.”
Frehley and Simmons had a notably rocky relationship, with Simmons in 2019 claiming that Frehley was fired from the band for his substance abuse, while Ace argued that he was 12 years sober by then and quit “of my own free will, because you and Paul [Stanley] are control freaks, untrustworthy and were too difficult to work with”.
Last month, the surviving members of KISS paid homage to him during their first “unmasked” show since retiring from touring. Ahead of the show, electric candles were handed out to the audience, and upon taking the stage, Paul Stanley asked the crowd to lift them in the air and take a moment to “think about somebody who is at the foundation of this band”.
“We’re talking about Ace,” he said. “We certainly had differences, but that’s what family is about. Why don’t we take a moment [and] think about him looking down on us” from the fictional planet “Jendell, probably”, which Ace often referred to as his home. “Let’s have a moment for Ace.”
Following Frehley’s passing, a Change.org petition was launched in an effort to convince NASA to award the guitarist with honorary astronaut status. The petition – started by a fan named Kathryn – has since received over 3,000 signatures and counting.
Elsewhere, Gene Simmons has said artists in the US are treated “worse than slaves” due to the money they receive for radio plays.
The comment came as the bassist testified before the US Senate Judiciary subcommittee in support of the Music Fairness Act, which calls for radio stations to licence artists’ songs for airplay.
