Behind the Scenes of My Gene Simmons Interview & Why He Won’t Commit to Shannon Tweed…

I hate to say “I Told You So” but I have to admit that I feel a little gloat-y about how Gene Simmons’ arrogance and refusal to commit to his partner, Shannon Tweed (the mother of his two children) finally bit him in the a*s. I happened to catch an episode of Gene Simmons: Family Jewels last night and it looks like Shannon Tweed has finally had her fill of Gene Simmons’ alleged infidelity and refusal to actually commit to her or to marry her. After a public relations campaign in which she called the rock star out on his cheating ways all over television (including an awkward moment with Kathie Lee & Hoda, NBC’s TODAY Show), Gene Simmons is finally realizing what he is losing by running his home as a totalitarian regime where he can come and go as he pleases.

According to the Toronto Sun, “The couple bickered throughout a brief appearance together on The Joy Behar Show, with Tweed calling her partner ‘a pig’ after he joked about his womanising, before walking off the live segment, announcing, ‘It’s over. It’s so rude of you to joke about it.’”

Apparently, Gene Simmons then lashed out at Joy Behar, sneering, “Thanks for the question.” According to the New York Daily News, Behar “seemed shocked that he blamed her for Tweed’s frustrations.”

I’ve always felt that Shannon Tweed was long-suffering, and never quite sure why it took her so long to finally put Simmons in his place. I can tell you this much, in July of 2007 I interviewed Gene Simmons for PR.com and found it to be a disturbing experience, finding the aging rocker and entrepeneur to be horribly chauvenistic, arrogant and close-minded. Ironically, after my Gene Simmons interview posted on PR.com and got circulated around the Internet, I got a lot of emails from people telling me how funny and entertaining they found the interview to be. I’m glad someone enjoyed it.

What actually bugged me the most about my interview with Gene Simmons was that it was very shotgun in its nature. I got a phone call from Gene unexpectedley, not knowing that I would be speaking with him that day, so I hadn’t had a chance to prepare and research, which I am normally very particular about. I typically conduct hours of research prior to an interview. But, beyond my off-the-cuff approach that day (which I was not happy about!), Simmons expressed to me that he feels it goes against the laws of nature for men to be faithful or to marry, and men marry only in response to female manipulation. I really hope that Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed can work through their differences because they have a family, and they do seem to really love each other. Here are some classic excerpts from my 2007 interview with Gene Simmons. You tell me if you didn’t see the implosion of this relationship between Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed coming a mile away:

PR.com: You tell me what you want to discuss first and foremost…

Gene Simmons: But I’m trying. That’s why I can’t get married, because the male of the species could never finish a sentence. You guys won’t let us. And I mean that in the very nicest way.

PR .com: (Laughs) I’m sorry to interrupt you after what you just said, but I have to ask you a question based on that. What is the difference between living with a woman and marrying a woman? Don’t you still have the same problems communicating?

Gene Simmons: Oh, we don’t care about communication. We just care about the fact that if we decide to break up, that you don’t take half of our money.

Gene Simmons: I don’t believe man is designed to be married.

PR.com: Do you believe women are designed to be married?

Gene Simmons: Yes, you’re biologically designed that way. You nest. You lay your eggs… I mean talking bird language… you lay your eggs and you build your nest. You want the white picked fence. Neither is good or bad. It’s just what you’re designed for. During the month, during a thirty day period, you drop one or two eggs. That’s it! Every day we make hundreds of millions of sperm in the same time it takes you to make two eggs. We’re tens of billions of sperm. Either that’s a great cosmic joke by God, or it has something to do with the blueprint of what we do.

PR.com: Then what has kept you in your relationship (with model Shannon Tweed) for over twenty years?

Gene Simmons: My decisions, my rules. No marriage. That’s no one to ask me “Where you are going?” Because I would immediately respond by, “Who wants to know?”

PR.com: Do you believe in fidelity?

Gene Simmons: I believe in nobody else having anything to say about your lifestyle. If you want to be [faithful] that should be a personal decision, not up to your girlfriend or your boyfriend. That’s the problem with marriage. Somebody else has a right to say how you lead your life. Not even your mother has that right, and she gave you life itself. Why would you ever give anybody else that right?

READ MY ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH GENE SIMMONS