bigdaddysmak
01-11-2005, 03:44 AM
By Josh Grossberg
This is what Gene Simmons (news) gets for kissing and telling.
A woman claiming to be the KISS demon's ex-girlfriend before he became famous is suing Simmons, alleging he slandered her as a "sex-addicted nymphomaniac" in a VH1 program about the band.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court on behalf of Georgeann Walsh Ward, accuses Simmons and the music network of unfairly portraying her as a "sexually loose, immoral, unchaste woman" by showing her photo 11 times during the rockumentary When Kiss Ruled the World, while the bass player boasted about supposedly having sex with 4,600 women.
According to court papers, the 53-year-old Chester, New York, native claimed to have been in an "exclusive, monogamous, romantic relationship" with Simmons for three years when she was a 21-year-old college student and he was living with his mother in Queens--before he shot to fame as the blood-spitting monster-faced member of KISS.
But pictures tell a thousand words--or in Simmons' case, a thousand groupies.
"There wasn't a girl that was off-limits, and I enjoyed every one of them," the tongue-wagging musician, a self-confessed "24-hour whore," is heard saying in the documentary's voiceover about those "crazy, crazy nights."
The remarks were accompanied by pictures of Ward in various poses with Simmons. The photos, Ward claims, subjected her "to public hatred, shame, contempt, ridicule, ostracism, degradation and/or disgrace."
Particularly painful, per court documents, was the shock and embarrassment the "wild" photos caused her family. Apparently Ward's father, husband and 21-year-old son all caught When KISS Ruled the World on VH1 when it aired in July and August.
Being seen with a rock 'n' roll playboy known for songs like "Lick It Up" and "Calling Dr. Love" was too much for Ward who considers herself a "morally upright and law-abiding woman" and works at a conference center associated with Columbia University.
"The implication was that [she] was a prostitute and/or solicited prostitutes, and/or [she was] a sexually loose woman," the complaint reads.
Ward's suit also accuses Simmons, his company, Kiss Catalog, and VH1 parent Viacom of defamation and invasion of privacy and seeks unspecified damages.
There was no immediate comment from Simmons' publicist. A spokeswoman for Viacom declined to comment on the pending litigation.
KISS, which wrapped its Rock the Nation tour last year, is on hiatus as singer-guitarist Paul Stanley (news) continues to recover from a second surgery to correct a hip-replacement operation that took place in October.
This is what Gene Simmons (news) gets for kissing and telling.
A woman claiming to be the KISS demon's ex-girlfriend before he became famous is suing Simmons, alleging he slandered her as a "sex-addicted nymphomaniac" in a VH1 program about the band.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court on behalf of Georgeann Walsh Ward, accuses Simmons and the music network of unfairly portraying her as a "sexually loose, immoral, unchaste woman" by showing her photo 11 times during the rockumentary When Kiss Ruled the World, while the bass player boasted about supposedly having sex with 4,600 women.
According to court papers, the 53-year-old Chester, New York, native claimed to have been in an "exclusive, monogamous, romantic relationship" with Simmons for three years when she was a 21-year-old college student and he was living with his mother in Queens--before he shot to fame as the blood-spitting monster-faced member of KISS.
But pictures tell a thousand words--or in Simmons' case, a thousand groupies.
"There wasn't a girl that was off-limits, and I enjoyed every one of them," the tongue-wagging musician, a self-confessed "24-hour whore," is heard saying in the documentary's voiceover about those "crazy, crazy nights."
The remarks were accompanied by pictures of Ward in various poses with Simmons. The photos, Ward claims, subjected her "to public hatred, shame, contempt, ridicule, ostracism, degradation and/or disgrace."
Particularly painful, per court documents, was the shock and embarrassment the "wild" photos caused her family. Apparently Ward's father, husband and 21-year-old son all caught When KISS Ruled the World on VH1 when it aired in July and August.
Being seen with a rock 'n' roll playboy known for songs like "Lick It Up" and "Calling Dr. Love" was too much for Ward who considers herself a "morally upright and law-abiding woman" and works at a conference center associated with Columbia University.
"The implication was that [she] was a prostitute and/or solicited prostitutes, and/or [she was] a sexually loose woman," the complaint reads.
Ward's suit also accuses Simmons, his company, Kiss Catalog, and VH1 parent Viacom of defamation and invasion of privacy and seeks unspecified damages.
There was no immediate comment from Simmons' publicist. A spokeswoman for Viacom declined to comment on the pending litigation.
KISS, which wrapped its Rock the Nation tour last year, is on hiatus as singer-guitarist Paul Stanley (news) continues to recover from a second surgery to correct a hip-replacement operation that took place in October.