A Kiss cam on the carpet.
Photo: AFP via Getty Images
The surviving members of Kiss reunited as honorees at the Donald Trump–hosted Kennedy Center Honors on December 7. Per The Washington Post, Trump — the first president to host the gala instead of watching it from the presidential box — shouted out the rock band’s “late great” guitarist and founding member Ace Frehley during the event. In a nod to Frehley’s history of putting a smoke bomb inside his instrument, the Associated Press reported that a smoking red guitar was also placed alone onstage during the night’s tribute to Kiss. In a joint message posted on December 8, members Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Paul Stanley affirmed that they were “deeply honored” to receive the award “This honor would not be possible without the irreplaceable contributions of our founding partner, Ace Frehley,” the group wrote. “Knowing how much this award meant to him, we celebrate this milestone as we mourn his loss.”
When asked about accepting the award given his past criticism of Trump following the January 6 riot, Stanley told The Hill’s ITK that America is “wonderful” because everyone is free to express their opinions. “Beliefs change with different situations, so what I may have said about one thing may not apply to something else,” the guitarist added. “This is a celebration of the arts and what people have given to the general population. That’s what makes America great — is that people have different opinions and don’t get thrown in jail for them.” Similarly, Simmons suggested that criticism is “the American process,” noting, “There is no one, not even Jesus or anybody, that you accept wholeheartedly without any questions.”
This year’s Kennedy Center Honors — which also recognized actor Sylvester Stallone, disco singer Gloria Gaynor, country singer George Strait, and actor Michael Crawford — marked the first since Trump installed himself as chairman earlier this year. Trump acknowledged that the evening’s attendees might not all be fans of his, specifically noting that some presenters “probably” didn’t like him very much. “All I know is they’re big, right? We want to make bigness,” he reportedly said to laughs. “We don’t care if they like Trump. We want bigness.” In some cases, the dislike was apparently mutual. NBC reports that the president said onstage that there were some attendees who “I truly love and respect” and others “I just hate.” During his opening remarks, Trump asserted that “many” of the audience members are “miserable, horrible people” who don’t “give up” even though he sometimes wishes they would.
His remarks will air alongside the rest of the program’s tribute speeches and performances on CBS and Paramount+ on December 23. And we already know what (or rather who) he may be measuring his success against. Ahead of this KenCen hosting gig, Trump singled out one frequent awards-ceremony host, declaring, “If I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.” Well …
