KISS frontman and co-founder Gene Simmons left a news anchor speechless during a recent interview.
The exchange occurred when Scripps News anchor Maritsa Georgiou was wrapping up her interview with Simmons on Monday, Dec. 8. After she thanked him for his time, the 76-year-old rockstar went off-script, asking, “By the way, are you still modeling?”
Georgiou appeared stunned for a few moments before she responded, “What?” Simmons reiterated the question to which she clarified, “I don’t model, sir.”
“Oh, I assumed,” Simmons said. Georgiou, maintaining her composure, responded, “Well, I appreciate that,” before thanking him again and concluding the segment.
Prior to his flirty flop, Simmons used his time on Scripps News to discuss his advocacy for the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA). This bill aims to close the “radio loophole” and ensure that music performers are compensated when their music is played on AM/FM radio stations. Simmons is scheduled to testify in favor of the bill on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Simmons and his fellow KISS surviving bandmates, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss, had traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the Kennedy Center Honors from President Trump on Sunday.
During the interview, Georgiou asked Simmons if he was surprised to have received this honor from Trump after previously criticizing him.
Simmons addressed the question by stating that while he doesn’t always agree with Trump, he respects him. “Do I agree on all things? No. But I also disagree with my mother and family on all sorts of things.”
He also told Georgiou he wouldn’t be duped into a headline-making soundbite, saying, “You’re not going to get a rise out of me,” to which the anchor responded that she wasn’t trying to provoke him.
Simmons sarcastically mocked the notion: “Of course not, media would never—Media would never try to get that headline. ‘He said this and he said that,’” he said.
Simmons then concluded the discussion by noting that if people are unhappy with the current president, they should exercise their right to vote in the next election. However, he advised that in the meantime, people should ”respect the presidency.”
The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will air Dec. 23 on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.
