Gene Simmons has been slapped with a lawsuit by a woman he allegedly groped.
The woman, identified in court filings as “Jane Doe,” is a broadcast reporter who alleges Simmons made unwanted sexual advances during and after an interview on Nov. 1 at his Rock & Brews restaurant at the San Manuel Casino in Southern California.
She is suing for sexual battery, gender violence, battery and assault.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Simmons reached over and grabbed the woman’s hand and “forcefully placed it on his knee and held it on his knee” during the interview.
The Kiss rocker allegedly continued “unwanted, unwarranted sexual advances,” according to the lawsuit.
MORE: Gene Simmons Praises Women For Talking About Sexual Harassment
“[He] turned standard interview questions into sexual innuendos, which made plaintiff Doe extremely uncomfortable,” the lawsuit alleges. Simmons allegedly “forcibly flicked/struck” the woman in the middle of her throat, then provided an “incoherent explanation” for doing it after noticing the woman’s shock.
Following the interview, the reporter posed for a photo with Simmons and, she claims, he touched her buttocks.
“Again, Plaintiff Doe kept her composure and discreetly moved away,” the lawsuit reads. “They took the pictures, but Plaintiff Doe declined the invitation to ‘stay around.’”
Simmons, 68, is married to Canadian Shannon Tweed. Last month, he told the New York Post: "Women have a choice. They can dress in potato sacks, (but) as soon as they pretty themselves up with lipstick, lift and separate them and point them in our general direction, they’re gonna get a response. Guys are jackasses — we will buy them mansions and houses...all because of sex.”
Later, on the Today show, Simmons praised women for speaking up about sexual harassment.
“I want all the jackasses to go to jail for being improper,” he said. “It's just that woman have finally stood up on their two hind legs and said, ‘You only get the respect you demand.’"
UPDATE: Gene Simmons issued a statement in response to the lawsuit.